GlobalData European Passenger Car Sales Update (December 2023)

Summary

• The Western Europe PV selling rate rose to 13 million units/year in December 2023, with 951k car registrations in the month.In YoY terms, sales were down almost 5%, though that compares to a strong December 2022. The region finished 2023 overall with 11.6 million units, higher than the 10.1 million units recorded in 2022 but well behind the 14.3 million units registered in 2019.
• Germany was the only major West European country with negative YoY growth last month (at -23%), mainly due to December 2022 being an unusually strong month given the ending of EV incentives. France and Spain continued to recover with double digit YoY growth as supply conditions continue to ease, with solid improvements coming from the UK and Italy.
• For 2023, Western Europe’s PV market performed almost 14% higher than in 2022 as supply bottlenecks eased and OEMs fulfilled backlogged orders. With the fading of supply constraints, the focus will now be on demand conditions, notably headwinds such as high interest rates, inflation, and low consumer confidence. However, the base for comparison, 2023, was still weak and some further growth is forecast for 2024.