European Car Sales Sank Like a Stone in March; April Not Looking Any Better

The coronavirus pandemic took a sizable bite out of new car registrations in the European Union last month. Volume was down 51.8 percent in March (including the United Kingdom), according to the European Auto Industry Association. While some of the absent vehicles are potentially waiting on official documents to come through after lockdown measures ease, most can be explained by the general lack of demand. Everyone knew last month would be a tough one, with the nations experiencing worst outbreaks likely see the largest sales disparities.

While no country was left unscathed, Reuters reports that Italy performed quite poorly in comparison to its neighbors. As it was the first European nation to report widespread contagion of COVID-19, that’s hardly surprising, and may indicate that its neighbors are about to find themselves in a similarly undesirable situation.

From Reuters:

Sales fell in all EU markets, with Italy — hit particularly hard by the pandemic — reporting the biggest drop of 85.4 [percent], while registrations tumbled by 37.7 [percent] in Germany, 72.2 [percent] in France and 69.3 [percent] in Spain.

Volkswagen Group’s sales decreased by 43.6 [percent] in March, while Renault and PSA Group posted a drop of 63.7 [percent] and 66.9 [percent], respectively.

Sales of cars made by BMW, which was among the few automakers reporting an increase in European sales in the previous months, dropped by 39.7 [percent], while demand for rival Daimler decreased by 40.6 [percent].

While most European countries began shuttering car dealerships and assembly lines in the middle of March, Italians were already stepping up social distancing measures. Italian dealer groups began voluntarily closing shops a week or two before other markets followed suit. At the time, it was assumed March registrations in Italy could be down 85 percent if showrooms didn’t reopen — a premonition that turned out to be spot-on.

Based on contagion reports, Spain looks to be the country taking it on the chin next. Reported coronavirus cases have skyrocketed over the last couple of weeks and, like Italy, the nation has restricted testing to at-risk persons showing symptoms. The country’s Ministry of Health estimates the true number of cases are probably over 15 times higher than the official tally — and they’re already quite high. Presently, Spain is the European nation with the largest number of confirmed cases (188,068), and has a death toll (19,478) that’s probably days away from surpassing Italy.

Germany also has an exceptionally high number of cases (138,369) but its death rate is comparatively low (at just 4,105). Part of that can been attributed to the country enacting comprehensive testing procedures and having a clearer idea where its infections originated. There have also been claims that Germans were simply adhering to social distancing measures better than their neighbors — and had slightly more time to prepare.

In fact, Germany’s numbers may be more representative of what’s actually going on. As test kits are not yet broadly available in most nations, it’s assumed many are mistakenly counting any death that looks like COVID-19 as attributable to the pandemic. However, there’s no way of knowing how large the disparity actually is without more testing, and that will take weeks.

What is certain is that April’s new car registrations probably won’t look any better than they did in March. Already hamstrung by shutdowns enacted in the previous month, much of the automotive industry will remain sequestered until May. We predict European countries nearly across the board showing figures similar to what we’ve already seen in Italy. Fortunately, discussions are in the works on how to restart the global economy. Widespread shutdowns sound like they’re two weeks away from concluding (or beginning to conclude).

Climbing back out of the economic hole we’ve created is presumed to take the entirety of this year, and maybe some of 2021.

[Image: GLF Media/Shutterstock]