According to the report from European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), in May 2019, the EU passenger car market recorded a modest increase (+0.1%) after eight consecutive months of decline. Demand in the region was mainly driven by the Central European countries, where registrations went up by 6.2% last month. By contrast, the five major Western European markets posted mixed results: with demand in Spain (-7.3%), the United Kingdom (-4.6%) and Italy (-1.2%) slowing down, but growing in Germany (+9.1%) and France (+1.2%).  

From January to May 2019, new car registrations across the European Union fell by 2.1% compared to last year, counting 6.7 million units in total. With the exception of Germany, the five big EU markets all posted slight declines so far this year.