Western Europe’s car market stepped up a gear in March, posting year-on-year growth of 10.7% and hitting a SAAR over 13m units for the first time in over three years.
Data released by LMC Automotive shows that the long and shallow car market recovery for the region has picked up amid better news of economic growth and signs that pent-up demand is becoming a driver in some markets.
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For the first quarter, Western Europe’s car market was up nearly 9% according to LMC.
“Taking into account recent results, it appears we are finally seeing a strong rebound in the market after years of under-performance,” said LMC Automotive analyst Jonathon Poskitt. “It’s good news,” he added. “And we have adjusted our forecast for 2015 car sales in the region up to 12.8m units, a 6.1% gain on the previous year. The balance of risks are heading for the upside now. We believe there remains the potential for further positive surprises from a market that has been operating at such a low base for years,” he said.
However, there was one note of caution from Poskitt. “We are keeping a close eye on the situation regarding Greece’s eurozone status and some possible wider destabilisation risks there, though it’s fair to say those risks have subsided a little in recent months.”
Car sales in Germany were up by 9% in March, with the year-to-date market up by 6.4%. The annualised selling rate in Germany was above 3.2m units in the first quarter.
The Spanish car market also recorded another strong month and is up by 32% year-to-date, reflecting some improvement of the wider economy. In Italy, the March SAAR stood at a little under 1.6m units a year.
French registrations put in a solid performance in March, reflecting the relative strength of French consumer spending.
UK car registrations managed a record-breaking result for the month of March, reaching nearly half a million units, a 6% increase year-on-year.
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| Sales (units) | Selling rate (units/year) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2015 | Mar 2014 | Percent change | Year-to-date 2015 | Year-to-date 2014 | Percent change | Mar 2015 | Year-to-date 2015 | Year 2014 | Percent change | |
| WESTERN EUROPE | 1556732 | 1406352 | 10.7% | 3395974 | 3126847 | 8.6% | 13148980 | 12809705 | 12102481 | 5.8% |
| AUSTRIA | 31344 | 29702 | 5.5% | 75412 | 81281 | -7.2% | 305990 | 309181 | 303318 | 1.9% |
| BELGIUM | 55245 | 52808 | 4.6% | 147073 | 148532 | -1.0% | 495342 | 477838 | 482618 | -1.0% |
| DENMARK | 19649 | 16816 | 16.8% | 49278 | 47849 | 3.0% | 225453 | 207634 | 189051 | 9.8% |
| FINLAND | 11097 | 9626 | 15.3% | 29353 | 30502 | -3.8% | 103559 | 95945 | 106219 | -9.7% |
| FRANCE | 196572 | 179865 | 9.3% | 476526 | 446609 | 6.7% | 1981761 | 1892593 | 1795642 | 5.4% |
| GERMANY | 323039 | 296408 | 9.0% | 757630 | 711753 | 6.4% | 3150220 | 3232675 | 3036791 | 6.5% |
| GREECE | 5897 | 5866 | 0.5% | 16639 | 16602 | 0.2% | 69695 | 62516 | 71217 | -12.2% |
| IRELAND | 19046 | 14297 | 33.2% | 64848 | 49853 | 30.1% | 124401 | 118714 | 96315 | 23.3% |
| ITALY | 161303 | 140189 | 15.1% | 427858 | 377600 | 13.3% | 1568229 | 1496339 | 1358633 | 10.1% |
| LUXEMBOURG | 5154 | 4773 | 8.0% | 12142 | 12311 | -1.4% | 39334 | 40335 | 49793 | -19.0% |
| NETHERLANDS | 29030 | 29366 | -1.1% | 110920 | 107030 | 3.6% | 330166 | 377187 | 388324 | -2.9% |
| NORWAY | 14159 | 13861 | 2.1% | 35367 | 36492 | -3.1% | 161216 | 145944 | 144202 | 1.2% |
| PORTUGAL | 20071 | 14152 | 41.8% | 46222 | 33960 | 36.1% | 197391 | 184974 | 142820 | 29.5% |
| SPAIN | 112299 | 79944 | 40.5% | 267134 | 202153 | 32.1% | 1057603 | 1007296 | 855295 | 17.8% |
| SWEDEN | 31590 | 27605 | 14.4% | 75733 | 67803 | 11.7% | 344015 | 337597 | 303866 | 11.1% |
| SWITZERLAND | 28464 | 26250 | 8.4% | 69252 | 68395 | 1.3% | 300803 | 292869 | 301942 | -3.0% |
| UK | 492774 | 464824 | 6.0% | 734588 | 688122 | 6.8% | 2693801 | 2530066 | 2476435 | 2.2% |
Austria, Greece, Luxembourg and Switzerland: estimates for latest month
The percent change in the final column compares the average selling rate in the year-to-date with the last full year.
