Oct 11, 2018
written by Autorola

After three consecutive months of growth, culminating in a 28.1% increase in new car sales for the European Union’s biggest five car markets (Big 5) in August 2018, the true impact of the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) saw sales plummet 22.3% in September.
At the end of the first half of 2018, the Big 5 were up 1.0% although this was mainly due to the drag caused by the decline in the UK car market. However, the move to WLTP for all new cars registered since September 2018 saw a flurry of day registrations or pre-registrations across Europe.
New car sales stall on WLTP introduction
Excluding the UK, the remaining 4 major European car markets were up 3.2% for the first six months of the year. But by the end of August, the same four markets were up 6.6%, with the UK dragging the overall August year-to-date (YTD) growth down to 4.3%, but still well above the 1.0% growth for the first half of 2018.
The introduction of WLTP from 1st September has meant manufacturers are unable to sell vehicles which have not yet been tested and this has resulted in a significant number of models being unavailable to order or with very long lead times. Manufacturers are removing some models or derivatives which require re-engineering to get a good result under the new test procedures. Other manufacturers are waiting in long queues for their models to be tested by the official regulatory bodies before they can sell them.
Downturn in new car sales set to continue
With dealer’s stocking plans full of day registrations and long lead times on quite a few models and derivatives the downturn in new car sales is expected to continue for the remaining three months and even extend into 2019 for some brands.
Following the drop in September, new car sales for first three quarters of the year for the Big 5 are up 0.8%. At a country level Spain is still seeing the strongest growth up 11.5% after nine months, followed by France up 6.5% with Germany third as sales growth is now just 2.4%. The political turmoil in Italy has seen sales go into reverse with total sales for the first three quarters of 2018 now down 3.0% over the same period last year; whilst the UK new cars sales continue to drop sharply with sales now down 7.5%.
The WLTP effect means the Big 5 are likely to sales falling sales for the remainder of the year and end the year down 1.9% which equates to an average 11.2% fall for the final quarter.
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At the end of the first half of 2018, the Big 5 were up 1.0% although this was mainly due to the drag caused by the decline in the UK car market. However, the move to WLTP for all new cars registered since September 2018 saw a flurry of day registrations or pre-registrations across Europe.
New car sales stall on WLTP introduction
Excluding the UK, the remaining 4 major European car markets were up 3.2% for the first six months of the year. But by the end of August, the same four markets were up 6.6%, with the UK dragging the overall August year-to-date (YTD) growth down to 4.3%, but still well above the 1.0% growth for the first half of 2018.
The introduction of WLTP from 1st September has meant manufacturers are unable to sell vehicles which have not yet been tested and this has resulted in a significant number of models being unavailable to order or with very long lead times. Manufacturers are removing some models or derivatives which require re-engineering to get a good result under the new test procedures. Other manufacturers are waiting in long queues for their models to be tested by the official regulatory bodies before they can sell them.
Downturn in new car sales set to continue
With dealer’s stocking plans full of day registrations and long lead times on quite a few models and derivatives the downturn in new car sales is expected to continue for the remaining three months and even extend into 2019 for some brands.
Following the drop in September, new car sales for first three quarters of the year for the Big 5 are up 0.8%. At a country level Spain is still seeing the strongest growth up 11.5% after nine months, followed by France up 6.5% with Germany third as sales growth is now just 2.4%. The political turmoil in Italy has seen sales go into reverse with total sales for the first three quarters of 2018 now down 3.0% over the same period last year; whilst the UK new cars sales continue to drop sharply with sales now down 7.5%.
The WLTP effect means the Big 5 are likely to sales falling sales for the remainder of the year and end the year down 1.9% which equates to an average 11.2% fall for the final quarter.
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