Insights

European new-car markets contract by more than a quarter in 2020

Neil King | 05 Jän 2021

Über den Autor

Neil King

Head of Forecasting at EV Volumes

Neil joined EV Volumes in March 2023 to assume responsibility for their global forecasting activities, leveraging the data and expertise held within EV Volumes and across the wider Autovista Group. He has been with Autovista Group since 2016 and has over 25 years of experience in automotive industry research and analysis, consulting, forecasting, and data journalism.

Bunte Papierstreifen als Graphen dargestellt

The new-car markets of France, Italy and Spain all shrunk by more than 25% in 2020. Autovista Group senior data journalist Neil King considers the December and annual figures.

Following the lifting of lockdowns in mid-2020, the new-car markets of France, Italy and Spain had shown signs of recovery. However, the resurgence of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, restrictions and/or economic repercussions are suppressing demand, albeit inflicting far less damage than in March to May. Registrations declined again year on year in December in all three countries, according to data released by the respective automotive trade associations, and each market contracted by more than a quarter overall in 2020.

New-car registrations, France, Italy and Spain, y-o-y % change, December and 2020

Pkw-Neuzulassungen, Frankreich, Italien und Spanien, Veränderung gegenüber dem Vorjahr in %, Dezember und 2020

Source: CCFA, ANFIA, ANFAC

New-car registrations were 11.8% lower in France in December 2020 than in the same month of 2019, according to the latest data released by the CCFA, the French automotive industry association.

This is a significant improvement on the 27% contraction in November, the largest monthly decline in France since May, as dealers reopened on 28 November. Prior to this, dealerships were closed during the month and were only allowed to deliver cars that had already been ordered before the second lockdown. In the full calendar year of 2020, new-car registrations in France were 25.5% lower than in 2019

Third consecutive monthly decline in Italy

In Italy, the year-on-year downturn in December reported by the industry association ANFIA was 14.9%, and the result would have been worse (down about 19%) had there not been an extra working day. This is the third consecutive month that the country is back in negative territory following the 9.5% growth in new-car registrations in September due to the new government scrappage incentives that came into effect at the beginning of August as part of the Decreto Rilancio (Relaunch Decree). While the market still contracted in that month, demand improved but delivery times delayed many registrations until September.

New-car registrations, France, Italy and Spain, y-o-y % change, January to December 2020

Pkw-Neuzulassungen, Frankreich, Italien und Spanien, Veränderung gegenüber dem Vorjahr in %, Januar bis Dezember 2020

Source: CCFA, ANFIA, ANFAC

Aside from restrictions in the country, the decline in December is also due to the exhaustion of the scrappage incentives. The ongoing weakness in December confirmed the gloomy forecasts for the Italian new-car market, which contracted by 27.9% in 2020. ‘We archive 2020 as the most difficult post-war year for our sector,’ commented ANFIA president Paolo Scudieri.

However, the Italian Parliament has approved an amendment to the 2021 Budget Law, which introduces new measures to renew the vehicle fleet with less polluting and safer cars.

‘We look to 2021 with confidence, thanks to the measures that came into force with the start of the new year, on which there was an agreement between all the political forces, and that, in addition to supporting demand, will favour the restart of the industrial production of motor vehicles and components for the benefit of the entire automotive supply chain, with positive repercussions on employment levels and investments for green and digital transition,’ Scudieri said.

Bitter-sweet Spain

In Spain, 105,841 new cars were registered during December, just 13 units fewer than in December 2019, according to ANFAC, the Spanish vehicle manufacturers’ association. Despite this stability in the month, the new-car market contracted by 32.3% in 2020, with 851,211 units registered in the entire year. This is the first time the Spanish market has fallen below one million units since 2014.

The December figures were buoyed by consumers taking advantage of the RENOVE scrappage scheme before it ended on 31 December. Similarly, the increase in vehicle registration taxes from 1 January brought demand forward into the tail end of 2020. However, this is bitter sweet for Spain as the new WLTP-based taxes will reduce demand, especially at the start of the year, and the market is expected to remain below one million units in 2021.

Tania Puche, director of communications of the Spanish dealers’ association GANVAM, commented that ‘the lack of political will to neutralise the impact of the WLTP on the registration tax makes us look sceptically at 2021. In an exceptional situation such as the one that has caused the pandemic, consumers need special incentives to continue with the necessary renewal of the fleet. It is probable that until the second half of the year we will not see a change in trend, when the impact of the vaccine on consumer confidence and the end of mobility restrictions will generate an environment of less uncertainty.’

European new-car markets contract by more than a quarter in 2020

What is total cost of ownership?

30 Apr 2021

What is total cost of ownership (TCO)? Daily Brief editor Phil Curry explains the terminology and its importance as a cost-comparison tool. https://youtu.be/eAdDKMIsWxQ To get...

Are EVs as green as they seem?

30 Apr 2021

The last year has been dominated by a single health emergency that brought the world to its knees. But for decades, scientists and campaigners have...

Updated whitepaper: How will COVID-19 shape used-car markets?

23 Apr 2021

The latest edition of Autovista Group’s whitepaper: How will COVID-19 shape used-car markets? considers the third-wave of coronavirus infections across Europe, and looks at the lessons learned a year...

Ja, ich möchte mich für den Autovista24-Newsletter anmelden

* Pflichtfeld

Ja, ich möchte folgende E-Mails erhalten:
Autovista24: europaweite Nachrichten und Insights - Täglicher Versand von Autovista Limited, auf Englisch

In unseren E-Mails verwenden wir Pixel, die uns zeigen, wenn Sie unsere E-Mails öffnen, weiterleiten oder Links anklicken. Dies hilft uns, die Leistung und Wirksamkeit unserer E-Mails zu messen. Wir kombinieren dies mit den Informationen, die Sie bei der Newsletter Anmeldungen angeben haben und Ihren Browsing-Informationen, damit wir unser Marketing besser auf Sie zuschneiden und verbessern sowie Ihre Benutzererfahrung auf unserer Website personalisieren können. Indem Sie sich anmelden, stimmen Sie der Verwendung Ihrer Daten zum Zweck der Zusendung der ausgewählten E-Mails und der Verwendung von Zählpixeln zu. Sie können Ihre Zustimmung zum Erhalt unserer E-Mails und dem Verwenden der Zählpixel jederzeit widerrufen, indem Sie dem Link zum E-Mail-Präferenzzentrum folgen, der in jeder E-Mail enthalten ist, die Sie erhalten. Weitere Informationen über die Verarbeitung Ihrer persönlichen Daten finden Sie in der Eurotax Datenschutzerklärung.