May car registrations in the European Union have risen again

In May 2021, passenger car registrations in the European Union rose by 53.4% compared to last year, totalling 891,665 units. Nevertheless, last month’s result is still far below the 1.2 million cars that were sold in May 2019.

The national markets saw strong volume gains, with Spain posting the biggest increase (+177.8%). The EU’s three other key car markets also did well in May: France +46.4%, Italy +43.0% and Germany +37.2%.

From January to May 2021, EU demand for new cars increased by 29.5% to reach 4.3 million units registered in total. The steep declines in the first two months of 2021 were counterbalanced by rises in March, April and May. Each of the four major markets posted double-digit percentage increases so far this year: Italy (+62.8%), France (+50.1%), Spain (+40.0%) and Germany (+12.8%).