EU passenger car sales up 4.7% in October

New passenger car sales in the European Union were up 4.7% in October compared with the same month last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Assn (Acea).

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New car registrations rose to 1,004,935 in October 2013, up from 959,779 in October last year, Acea said on Tuesday November 19.

This is the first time since September 2011 that demand has gone up for two consecutive months, but the month’s sales figure is still the second-lowest October level since Acea records began in 2003.

Over the first ten months of the year, a total of 10,006,807 new passenger cars were registered in the EU, compared with 10,327,057 in the same period in 2012.

VW Group sales rose 5.8% year-on-year in October to 258,067 units, up from 243,923 units in October 2012.

VW sells the largest number of new passenger cars in Europe, but in the first ten months of 2013 VW’s sales fell 2.6% overall, compared with the same period last year.

Italy, where registrations fell 5.6%, was the only major EU market to see a decline in new sales in October. New car sales in Germany grew 2.3%, sales in France were up 2.6% and the UK continued to perform well with a 4% year-on-year increase.

Between January to October, new passenger car sales in the UK were up 10.2%. Germany, France and Italy have all seen an overall year-on-year fall in demand over the same period.