Monthly car sales in Europe through January 2021

In January 2021, the trend for passenger car sales in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland was down, year-on-year: Customers in European markets purchased around 843,000 units. Despite a reduction in sales of more than 30 percent, Germany remained the leading market for passenger car sales in Europe that month.

2020 European auto market

Sales of new passenger cars are anticipated to be significantly lower than average for the first most months of the year in 2021, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold. Countries with strict lockdown measures saw sharp drops in sales in 2020, as customers were restricted in travel and urged to stop all non-essential activity. The pandemic has also brought down productivity in many sectors, including vehicle manufacturing. For months, pandemic-related restrictions had left many workers out of work or meant that they were receiving only a portion of their normal income. Vaccine rollout at the end of 2020 in some European countries provided some hope to struggling industries. However, it may take months before significant portions of populations are vaccinated and transmission rates were at their highest in some countries at the start of the year. Add to that supply chain insecurities in early 2021 as a result of measures to keep mutant strains of the novel coronavirus from spreading.

Pre-crisis sales

Changes in tax regulations resulted in a peak in December 2019 and weak sales figures in January 2020. Registrations of new passenger cars in Europe's largest markets were already low due to consumer uncertainty and a weakening economy even before the coronavirus pandemic caused markets to tank in March and April 2020.