GlobalData European Passenger Car Sales Update (August 2024)

Summary

• The Western Europe PV selling rate increased 10% month-on-month (MoM) in August, to 12.3 mn units/year. However, it must be noted that August is a seasonally weak month for car sales,particularly in the UK, with this market having distorted the regional selling rate upward. In year-on-year (YoY) terms, sales volumes were down 18% though August 2023 was a relatively strong base for comparison as supply was improving and backlogged orders were being fulfilled.
• Year-to-date (YTD), the West European market is now up by only 1%, with recent months seeing a downward trend in the YTD evolution. Political and economic issues continue to dampen consumer confidence and the overall outlook of the market in the near-term. It is evident that higher interest rates and vehicle pricing have negatively impacted sales and will continue to do so in the near-term, even if some easing of both takes place. Furthermore, the BEV market continues to struggle, causing industry leaders to call for incentivization to revive sales. We now forecast the full year result to fall just short of the 2023 total.