Europe’s Car Sales Fall 18%, Dashing Hopes for a Comeback
- August plunge snaps three-month streak of improvement
- Result may indicate subsidy-supported recovery is short-lived
New automobiles await transportation at the Port of Bremerhaven, Germany, on Sept. 15. Europe’s new-car registrations have fallen by almost a third this year to 7.3 million.
Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
European car sales plunged by nearly a fifth in August, dashing hopes that the industry was starting to recover from the pandemic and suggesting that the market could remain depressed through year-end.
The results snapped a three-month streak of easing declines, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday. Sales had slipped only 3.7% from a year ago in July.