Data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) showed that in November EU demand for new passenger cars increased by 4.9%, marking the third consecutive month of growth this year. To a large extent this is the result of a low base of comparison, because in November 2018 registrations went down 8.0%. With the exception of the United Kingdom (-1.3%) all major European markets posted growth last month: Germany (+9.7 %), Spain (+2.3%), Italy (+2.2%) and France (+0.7%).

Eleven months into the year, new car registrations across the European Union were almost back at levels from one year ago (-0.3%), thanks to the strong results of the last three months. Nevertheless, four of the five major EU markets declined from January to November, most notably Spain (-5.7%) and the United Kingdom (-2.7%). Germany (+3.9%) remains the only big market that recorded growth so far in 2019.