Exactly 718,598 cars were registered in the European Union last September. That is more than 23 percent less than in the same month in 2020 and the lowest number in 26 years.
The problem is not so much that people don’t buy cars, but that the cars they buy cannot be delivered. The ACEA – the European association of car manufacturers – says the worldwide chip shortage is playing tricks on the car market. Several car manufacturers have already been forced to scale back (or even shut down) production because there are not enough computer chips.
European car sales did rise over the first nine months
The European countries where the car market declined the most in September are Italy (minus 32.7 percent), Germany (minus 25.7 percent) and France (minus 20.5 percent). Seen over the first nine months of 2021, the European market is increasing: by 6.6 percent to 7.5 million cars. Volkswagen is the best-selling brand (874,556 cars), closely followed by Renault (539,803) and Peugeot (476,571).