Search Site

Trends banner

‘Wadeem’ sold out for $1.49bn

This is the highest Abu Dhabi real-estate release to date.

Tesla Q2 sales down 13.5%

Shares rally after the disclosure, better than some forecasts.

TomTom cuts 300 jobs

The firm said it was realigning its organization as it embraces AI.

Aldar nets $953m in sales at Fahid

Aldar said 42 percent of the buyers are under the age of 45.

Qualcomm to Alphawave for $2.4 bn

The deal makes Alphawave the latest tech company to depart London.

Auto sales in Europe drop to a three-decade low in 2022

The economic confrontation between the United States and China has put Europe in the crossfire. (AFP/File)
  • The overall number of EU registrations fell 4.6 percent to 9.3 million, a level last seen three decades ago
  • Volkswagen remained the European market leader with 2.3 million vehicles sold, a 5.2 percent decline, for a stable market share of 25.1 percent

Paris, France–New vehicle registrations in Europe dropped to their lowest level since 1993 last year as component shortages continued to hinder automakers, an industry group reported Wednesday.

Despite an uptick in sales since August, the overall number of EU registrations fell 4.6 percent to 9.3 million, a level last seen three decades ago, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said.

Also read: Mercedes plans $1.05 bn investment

It marks a third difficult year for the industry since the factory and showroom closures during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2021 and the resulting supply bottlenecks — not least for key semiconductors — that persisted even as the pandemic eased.

Germany was the only major European market that saw growth last year, at 1.1 percent, while Italy registrations plunged 9.7 percent, France 7.8 percent and Spain 5.4 percent.

But the auto association, known by its French abbreviation ACEA, said sales had picked up in most countries during the final months of the year, with December registrations up 12.8 percent overall from the year earlier.

Also read: BMW profits slide as China lockdowns hit production

For the year, Volkswagen remained the European market leader with 2.3 million vehicles sold, a 5.2 percent decline, for a stable market share of 25.1 percent.

The Stellantis group followed with 1.8 million vehicles, a 14.1 percent drop, while Renault sales slid 4.3 percent to 985,000.

The German auto industry association said last week that it expected only a mild recovery for the domestic car market this year, even as supply chain bottlenecks are expected to ease.