Latest data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) showed that registrations of 11,850,905 new cars were recorded last year, down 1.7% on 2012 and marking the sixth consecutive year of decline. In terms of annual volumes, 2013 is the worst year since 1995 (which had a total of 15 EU countries at the time), and the worst ever since ACEA began the series in 2003 with the enlarged EU.

However, the 1.7% contraction marked an improvement on the 8.2% fall recorded in 2012, which was the sector's worst result for 18 years.

The full-year results were contrasted across the markets. The UK recorded a double-digit growth (+10.8%), while Spain posted a more moderate upturn (+3.3%). Downturns were seen in Germany (-4.2%), France (-5.7%) and Italy (-7.1%).

The results were in marked contrast to December 2013, which saw a 13.3% increase in new car registrations, the largest monthly year-on-year growth since December 2009 (+16.6%).

Most EU markets posted growth, including the major ones, which ranged from +1.4% in Italy, to +5.4% in Germany, +9.4% in France, +18.2% in Spain and +23.8% in the UK.

However, in absolute figures, the results were the third lowest to date for a month of December with a total of 906,294 units.