Europe car sales pick up speed in March to erase early-year declines

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Europe’s monthly car sales leaped 63 per cent in March as markets overcame Covid restrictions to recover from a pandemic crash, according to new data.

Registrations in the EU, EFTA and UK markets rose to 1.39 million year-on-year, data from industry association ACEA showed on Friday.

The resurgence erased an early-year decline to shoot sales up 0.9 per cent to more than three million for the quarter.

Registrations at Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest-selling car maker, rose 46 per cent, closely followed by Stellantis whose sales leaped 141 per cent.

Renault also saw a rise in registrations, which were up 70 per cent, according to ACEA.

Seasonally, March tends to be a strong period for Europe’s auto industry. Despite the resurgence, registrations were around 13 per cent below the pre-pandemic industry average.

Regardless, the figures are a welcome development for the European industry after months of lagging behind recoveries in China and the US.