A total of 926,486 new cars were registered last month, down by 10.3% compared to November 2011. For the first 11 months of 2012, markets within the EU27 recorded 11,255,094 new cars – down 7.6% compared to same period a year ago and a historical low since 1993.

Out of the major markets, only the UK bucked the trend, with registrations up 11.3%. In contrast, registrations were down 3.5% in Germany, 19.2% in France, 20.1% in Italy and 20.3% in Spain.

There was a similar picture for the figures from January to November, with the UK being the only major market to expand (+5.4%). Meanwhile Germany (-1.7%), Spain (-12.6%), France (-13.8%) and Italy (-19.7%) all contracted.