European Union: The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reported this week that the region's passenger car market shrank 4.6% last year to just 9.3 million units, the lowest level since 1993.
According to the report, the impact of component shortages in the first half of the year was the main reason for the slowdown. However, the market improved from August to December, as shown by a 12.8% increase in new car registrations in the last month of the year.
Of the four largest EU markets, only Germany was able to register growth (+1.1%) in 2022. ACEA claimed that December's positive result had helped it. The other three markets fared worse than in 2021, with Spain (-5.4%) and France (-7.8%) recording the biggest declines, followed by Italy (-9.7%).
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According to the data, more than 896,000 vehicles were registered in EU countries last month, up from 795,000 in the previous month (with the exception of Malta, for which figures are not available).
According to ACEA, sales of vehicles of the Volkswagen Group (Skoda, Audi, Seat, Porsche and other brands) in the European Union declined by 5.2% last year.
Stellantis, an automaker, saw sales fall 14.1%, while Renault group sales fell 4.3% and BMW sales fell 5.1%. At 549,023 units, Mercedes-Benz sales were roughly at the same level as 2021.
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South Korea's Hyundai (including Kia) increased its vehicle sales in the EU by 2.6%, while Japan's Toyota and Honda saw increases of 7.7% and 4.4%, respectively. Ford, an American automaker, saw a sales decline of 2.3%.