Car production across Europe rising
Car production in Europe increased by 63% throughout Europe in March compared to the same month last year.
According to JATO Dynamics data from 26 markets across the region, volume rose from 842,094 to 1,374,313 units, bringing first quarter volume to 3,045,703.
But despite signs of recovery, the industry is still facing several challenges, including the economic fallout of the pandemic, ongoing lockdown restrictions and lack of consumer confidence.
Registrations fell by 22% last month when compared with March 2019 – marking the lowest total volume of new cars registered since March 2013, when volume totalled just 1,337,588 units as a result of global financial crisis.
Felipe Munoz, global analyst at JATO Dynamics, said: “The European car market is still a way off from reaching pre-pandemic volumes, and governments must take further action to help boost sales and restore consumer confidence.”
EVs and SUVs continued to be the main drivers of growth for the market. EVs posted a record market share of 16% in March 2021, while the market share of SUVs has also continued to grow year-on-year, from 37% in March 2019, to 40% in March 2020, and 45% in March 2021.
