Car sales in October: More new cars registered in the EU

In October, the number of newly registered cars in the EU rose for the third time in a row. But the manufacturers are still a long way from the pre-corona level in terms of sales figures.

The car manufacturers delivered around 745,800 new cars to the European Union in October. This is an increase of 12.2 percent compared to the same month last year, as the European manufacturers’ association ACEA announced today. However, sales were particularly low a year ago because of the chip crisis. In the meantime, the shortage of parts has eased and more cars can be built and delivered again.

According to ACEA, a good 40 percent more vehicles from the VW Group were newly registered in October than a year earlier. Of the Group’s brands, only Porsche sold fewer new vehicles. BMW achieved an increase of almost six percent, Mercedes-Benz recorded a decline of a good three percent. The Opel parent company Stellantis sold almost two percent fewer vehicles in the EU than in the same period last year.

Reluctance to place new orders?

According to an analysis by the auditing company EY, the e-car segment continues to grow in terms of new registrations, but slightly loses market share in October.

Even if total car sales in the EU increased for the third month in a row in October, experts still do not see this as a trend reversal. More new cars hit the streets in October, mainly because manufacturers are reducing their order backlog. However, the industry hardly registers any new incoming orders. Potential buyers are holding back because of the uncertain economic outlook.

Analysts at the auditing company EY see gloomy prospects for the coming year. “When the comfortable cushion of orders has been worked off and there are no new orders due to recession concerns and a loss of purchasing power, the market is likely to come under pressure again,” according to the EY experts.

Overall weak balance sheet

Calculated for the year as a whole, the number of new EU registrations no longer looks quite as positive: according to ACEA, around 7.5 million vehicles have been newly registered in the European Union since the beginning of the year. This corresponds to a decrease of 8.1 percent compared to the first ten months of 2021.

The car manufacturers have still not reached the level before the Corona crisis. The gains in August, September and October were also not enough to offset the weak previous months.