Dacia, Hyundai and Alfa Romeo – top car registrations in Europe this year. SAAB and Chrysler – champion drops

Dacia, Hyundai and Alfa Romeo are the brands to record the most registrations in Europe during the first ten months of this year. On the other pole, the most drastic drops in registrations were recorded by Saab and Chrysler, according to the European Automobiles Constructors Association (ACEA), covering 28 countries. Overall, the number of new car registrations by 11% in Europe last month. During the first ten months of the year, the market shrank by 5% against the same 2008 period.

The registrations for Dacia went up 24.5%, amounting to 195,000 in the first ten months. Hyundai registrations went 24%, to around 287,000 cars, while Alfa Romeo ranked third with a 9.5% increase, seeing a number of registrations shy to 95,000. Two volume brands, Ford and Volkswagen, saw an increase of over 3% on a market that is, overall, still dropping after the disastrous months from the beginning of the year.

Regarding significant drops, Saab listed figures 59% lower in comparison with the first ten months in 2008, counting around 23,000 new registrations. As for Chrysler, the company saw the November of registrations falling by 45%, amounting to around 46,000 cars. Both brands have encountered serious problems and are on their way to be restructured. . Chrysler has a close connection with Fiat and Saab has got a new owner after the break-up with General Motors. Another two companies where registrations have dropped significantly are Land Rover and Lexus.

Overall, registrations have gone 11% in the 28 countries included in the registrations’ statistics, from 1.13 million cars to 1.26 millions. Romania faces an accentuating decline, 69% in October and 62% after ten months, dropping from 252,000 cars registered between January and October in 2008 to 96,000 cars registered this year.

Other countries in the region are not doing much better either. In Bulgaria, the car market dropped 48%, In Hungary – 61%, while Latvia has to deal with the biggest contraction – 80%: from over 17,000 cars registered last year to under 4,000 cars. Germany remains the biggest European car market, with over 3.31 million units recorded, 26% up, while France seconds it, with a 4% increase (1.82 million cars)

Spain records the biggest drop from the big car markets in occident – 24% in the first 10 months of the year, counting 775,000 new car registrations.

ACEA statistics present the situation of car registrations in 28 European countries: 25 EU members, excluding Cyprus and Malta, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland (EFTA states).