Car sales in Western Europe fell by 1% year‐on‐year (YoY) in October, following a strong September result.

Car sales in Western Europe were down by 1% year‐on‐year in October but up 6.3% YtD

The figures come from LMC Automotive, which attributes the decline largely to most markets having one fewer selling day.

YTD, however, the market was up 6.3%, and it remains on course to finish the year at 13.9 mn units compared to 13.2 mn units for 2015. The firm adds that it forecasts the region’s car market will continue to grow in 2017, albeit at a slower pace, with “headwinds in the form of higher car prices and slowing economic growth hitting the UK’.

After two months of strong growth, boosted by increased consumption by private households, the German car market saw a sharp dip in October, registering a selling rate of 3.1 mn units/year. However, market fundamentals remain strong and registrations can be expected to grow by circa 5% this year towards 3.4 mn units.

Following the end of the PIVE scheme, private car sales in Spain performed poorly for the second month in a row, with private registrations down 2.3% YoY in October. The car market as a whole, however, remained in positive territory (+4% YoY), thanks to strong growth in business, and in particular, rental car sales. The latter was due to strong demand from the tourism industry.

The Italian car market maintained its positive momentum, registering a circa 10% YoY rise in sales last month. The selling rate of 1.8 mn units/year in October was in line with an average of the last three months, and where we expect the market to end this year. The French car market, though down YoY in October, has generally picked up well this year and looks set to finish the year with around 2 mn new cars registered.

In the UK new car market, demand continues to be driven by fleet sales (+4.2% YoY), with the private channel marginally down in October.