Car industry Slump in sales for car manufacturers in the EU in May

Car manufacturers in the European Union lost ground in May. The number of newly registered cars fell by three percent to almost 912,000 compared to the same month last year, according to the industry association Acea in Brussels on Thursday.

In the previous month, manufacturers had been able to achieve an increase thanks to additional sales days. This means that growth since the beginning of the year has fallen to 4.6 percent: between January and the end of May, almost 4.6 million cars were handed over to customers.

In three out of four key markets, car manufacturers were unable to really convince customers in May: sales in Italy, Germany and France fell significantly. In Spain, however, the number of newly registered vehicles rose.

Meanwhile, the combined market share of diesel and petrol cars dwindled to 48.5 percent. In contrast, the number of newly registered hybrids increased to just under 30 percent.