BMW and Mercedes-Benz also suffered double-digit losses.
(Photo: dpa)
Hamburg Supply chain problems due to the Ukraine war and the ongoing shortage of chips have further reduced car sales in the EU. In April, new passenger car registrations fell by 20.6 percent to 684,506 vehicles, as announced by the European manufacturers’ association ACEA on Wednesday.
With the exception of the first Corona year 2020, when production temporarily came to a standstill across Europe, this was the weakest April since records began. The sharpest drop in sales was in Italy with minus 33 percent, followed by France with minus 22.6 percent, Germany (minus 21.5 percent) and Spain (minus 12.1 percent). In Great Britain, which is no longer part of the EU, registrations fell by 15.8 percent
The Russian invasion had already exacerbated the problems in the industry in February and caused the lowest level for new registrations in the European Union since statistics began 32 years ago. The full impact of the wire harness supply disruption only began to be felt in March, when sales fell by 20.5 percent.
Almost all major car manufacturers got sucked into the downward spiral. The VW brand lost 30 percent in April, and Opel’s mother Stellantis lost 32 percent. Renault shrank by 18 percent. The premium manufacturers BMW and Mercedes-Benz also suffered double-digit losses.
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Only the Korean Hyundai-Kia Group and the two Japanese car manufacturers Honda and Mitsubishi stood out from the negative trend. Since the beginning of the year, new registrations from all manufacturers have fallen by 14.4 percent to 2.9 million vehicles.
More: Forecast: Cars will be even scarcer this year