Most large auto markets in the EU posted declines last year. France’s auto market was down 2.1%, the UK posted a decline of 4.4%, Italy dropped 10.9%, and Spain dropped 17.7%, according to data released Tuesday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
Germany, Europe’s biggest car market, was the only exception and posted a 8.8% increase in 2011, to 3.17 million new car registrations.
The second biggest market was France, with 2.25 million units, and the UK, with 2.03 million.
In the emerging EU10, the auto market posted a 2.9% decline, to 760,706 new car registrations.
In terms of carmakers, the only groups to register growth were Germany’s Volkswagen, BMW, and Daimler.
Volkswagen’s new car registrations increased 7.5% in the EU in 2011, to 3.04 million, raising the carmaker’s market share to 23.2%.
The EU’s second biggest carmaker, PSA Peugeot Citroen, posted a 9% drop, to 1.64 million cars.
France’s Renault, which owns Romanian carmaker Dacia, ranks third, with 1.27 million new registrations, a 8.4% decline on the year. Registrations of the Renault brand dropped 9.2%, to 1.02 million cars, while Dacia registrations dropped 5% in the EU, to 246,381 cars.
General Motors (GM) declined 2% in the EU, to 1.14 million cars,a dn registrations of Ford dropped 3.2%, to 1.04 million.
Italy’s Fiat posted the biggest decline among European carmakers, of 12.1%, to 928,390 cars.
BMW posted a 7.6% growth, to 780,981 cars, while Daimler, owner of Mercedes-Benz Cars, posted a marginal growth of 0.2%, to 652,790 cars.
Toyota registrations in Europe dropped 6.4%, to 523,418 cars.