Eurozone recovery begins to gain some traction as new car sales speed ahead
New car purchases in Europe are growing strongly, in a sign that the economy is starting to gain momentum.
March saw the highest monthly growth for a year, as 1,604,107 new cars were registered. For the Eurozone, registrations of new cars were up 13.3 per cent compared to March last year, according to figures released yesterday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.
Spanish car registrations climbed 40 per cent in March compared with the same month last year. Other periphery economies saw booms too, with Italy and Portugal seeing increases of 41.8 per cent and 15.1 per cent respectively.
Registrations in Germany and France – the two largest Eurozone economies – were up nine per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively.
Growth in new car registrations has been subdued in the Eurozone as economies struggled to sustain a recovery following the 2008 financial crisis.
It is in stark contrast to the UK, which has seen robust growth in new car registrations in every month for the last three years.
A record number of new cars rolled out onto Britain’s roads in March.