Eleven percent fewer registrations: delivery problems are slowing down the new car market

Eleven percent fewer registrations
Delivery problems are slowing down the new car market

The car market continues to suffer from delivery problems. Eleven percent fewer new registrations were recorded in May than in the same month last year. It is the tenth negative month in a row. A trend reversal is not in sight.

The new car market in the EU continues to be plagued by delivery problems. In May, eleven percent fewer new registrations were recorded than in the same month last year, according to the European manufacturer association Acea. A total of 791,546 new vehicles sold meant – with the exception of 2020, which was strongly influenced by the Corona crisis – the weakest May since the start of the statistical series in 1990.

The four most important markets each experienced double-digit declines: the strongest in Italy (down 15.1 percent), followed by Spain (down 10.9 percent), Germany (down 10.2 percent) and France (down 10.1 percent). ). At the same time, the slump in new registrations in the previous month of April 2022 was even worse, when a decline of more than 20 percent was recorded compared to the same month last year.

There is still no trend reversal in sight on the European new car market, commented the automotive market expert Peter Fuss from the consulting company EY on the new figures. “The shortage of semiconductors and raw materials continues to cause significant disruption – and this situation will continue for at least a few months,” he said.

It is still unclear to what extent the corona lockdowns in China are affecting global supply chains. “The hoped-for recovery is likely to be delayed further,” predicted Fuss. “The overall picture remains unchanged: the availability of new cars will remain limited, new car prices will remain high, and delivery times will be long.”

Given this development, manufacturers would “continue to focus on the production of high-margin vehicles,” he added. Fuss also thinks it is possible that demand will come under pressure due to the current high level of inflation. Declining purchasing power and rising interest rates at the same time could “significantly weaken the hitherto high private demand,” he explained.

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