West European new car sales grew by 4.2% year-on-year (YoY) in November according to data released by LMC Automotive.
LMC said the result is one of relative improvement — against November 2018’s WLTP-related weakness — rather than a story of strong underlying demand in November 2019.
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Gradual normalisation from a weak September 2019 SAAR continues, with this year having seen more muted WLTP-distortions than 2018. The West European selling rate reached 14.0m units a year in November, moving upwards from 13.5m units a year in October and 13.1m units a year in September.
The German annualised sales rate rose to 3.5m units a year in November, while YoY growth in sales remained strong at 9.7%. However, UK sales were down 1.3% YoY last month — LMC noted that with the forthcoming Brexit-dominated election, the country continues to be stuck in a grip of uncertainty.
In Spain, sales rose modestly at 2.3% YoY, with the annualised selling rate remaining in line with October’s 1.2m units a units a year. Similarly, Italy saw a selling rate in line with October at 1.9m units a year, paired with YoY growth of 2.2% in sales. French new registrations saw little growth YoY in November, at just 0.7%, though the selling rate remains solid at 2.2m units a year.
Regionally, year-to-date (YTD) sales were marginally down from 2018, though by the close of the year LMC said it expects to see a similar outturn to 2018 (around 14.2m units). The forecasters say they are a ‘little more cautious on 2020’, with overall volumes expected to be lower than this year at 14.06m units. LMC noted that economic challenges remain, particularly in light of the external trade environment and Brexit uncertainty, and ‘there is a risk that OEMs may have to take action that could have an impact on total market volumes because of forthcoming CO2 targets.’
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