The European Car Dealers (ECD) a division of CECRA which is the European Council for Motor Trades and Repairs, estimates that 12,570,000 passenger cars will be registered in Europe in 2014.
This represents an increase of 1.9 per cent in comparison to 2013, during which 12,338,660 cars were registered. For the EU countries, ECD is estimating increased sales of 261,150 cars in 2014 over last year.
This forecast is based on the outcome of a survey conducted by CECRA, which represents the interests of automotive dealers and repairers in Europe. However, the survey has Ireland forcasted to grow new car sales from 74,303 to just 75,000 (+0.9pc), while the SIMI is forecasting sales to rise a rise much higher to 85,000 this year
And after a great 2013 for new car sales in the UK, the SMMT is forecasting consolidation and just minimal further growth in 2014, but this survey has them dropping back by close to 15,000 cars this year. Germany is forcast to grow by 3.3pc, as do France(+0.5pc) and Italy (+3.6pc).
The forecast includes 28 EU Member States (with the exception of Malta for which no figures were available) as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. For some countries, an estimation was made as CECRA does not yet cover all EU countries.
Both CECRA President Jean-Paul Bailly and ECD Chairman Jaap Timmer underline that 2014 is expected to show modest growth and could be a turning point, although there is still a long way to go. Furthermore, excessive discounts and “self-registrations” have to be restricted.
The ECD division requests car manufacturers to take this forecast into account when setting their sales objectives in conjunction with their network all over Europe.
