The main EU markets recorded sales figures up from a disastrous August 2021, with Germany at +3%, France at +3.8%, Italy at +9 .9% and Spain at +9.1%.
However, with 650,000 cars sold in August, the European market remains “well below its pre-pandemic level“, with strong sales recorded in 2018 and 2019, underlined the ACEA in a press release.
The summer had started badly: sales were still down 15.4% in June and 10.4% in July.
With nearly six million cars sold since the start of 2022, the market is down 11.9%.
Since the spring of 2021, the automotive market has been held back in Europe and America by a series of logistical problems, including a shortage of semiconductors. These electronic chips, mainly produced in Asia, are essential for the manufacture of telephones and laptops, but also cars which carry ever more electronics.
With chip supplies stabilizing, ACEA predicted a rebound in auto sales in the second half of 2022, but the war in Ukraine dampened this optimism.
Most of the manufacturers still reaped large profits in the first half thanks to a rise in prices. In August, the Volkswagen group rebounded by 7.9% and Stellantis by 10.6%. The Renault group continued to decline (-7.2%) despite the good results of Dacia, and Hyundai posted a slight drop of 0.6%.
