European car sales rebounded in April but remained at a low level, according to figures released Wednesday by carmakers.
With 862,226 passenger cars sold in the European Union, the car industry is up 219% over the disastrous month of April 2020, which saw only 271,000 sales between containment measures and dealer closures.
But sales are still hard hit by the crisis, as the 862,226 for April 2021 is far from the 1.14 million vehicles sold in April 2019, before the pandemic, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
In April 2021, several countries posted four-digit growth rates compared to April 2020, such as Italy (+3,276%) and Spain (+1,787%). France recovered by 569%, Germany by 90%, Belgium by 602% and Poland by 163%. The United Kingdom’s car sales for April this year grew by 3,177%.
The Volkswagen group (Audi, Seat, Skoda) remains the leading European one with more than 232,000 sales, but with a shrinking market share of 26.9%.
The new Stellantis group (Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat-Chrysler) regained a market share of 23.5% with 202,000 sales.
The Renault group remains at a low level with a market share of 9.2%, while Hyundai-Kia is progressing with 7.5%, ahead of BMW (7.1%), Daimler (6.2%) and Toyota (6.1%).
The Brussels Times
