European sales down a quarter

Registrations of new cars were down by more than a quarter in 27 European markets during January.

According to Jato Dynamics, registrations of new cars totalled 839,525 units, down by 26% compared to the same period in 2020 and the lowest result for January since 1982.

Felipe Munoz, global analyst at JATO Dynamics, said: “Despite efforts made by governments and OEMs to boost the registration of pure electric cars, it has not been enough to offset the impact of the global pandemic and local lockdowns”

Car dealerships across the continent also continued to feel the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. In key markets such as Germany and Spain, volume dropped by 32% and 52% respectively.

Despite the overall negative trend, there were a few exceptions. In Sweden volume increased by 23% compared to January 2020. This came as a result of changes to Sweden’s bonus-malus taxation policy, which caused an increase in vehicle registrations in December 2019, as customers took advantage of the favourable taxation that would no longer be in place for high-emissions vehicles. In Norway, registrations increased by eight per cent as consumers were once again able to visit showrooms, and demand for EVs continued, fuelled by heavy incentives.

SUVs also started the year with a success story, accounting for 44% of all new passenger car registrations in January – the highest share ever recorded for SUVs.

Munoz said: “The demand for SUVs shows no signs of stagnation, and Europe is showing similar patterns of growing popularity to those seen in the USA and China.”