Europe New Car Registrations Fall For Second Month

(RTTNews) - Europe's new car registrations declined for the second straight month in February due to sharp reductions in Germany and Italy, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA, said on Tuesday.

New car sales were down 3.4 percent on a yearly basis in February, after a 2.6 percent drop in January.

The German market reported the biggest monthly fall of 6.4 percent, followed by a 6.2 percent decrease in Italy.

In the year-to-date period, EU car sales logged an annual fall of 3.0 percent. Among major markets, only Spain recorded an increase, which was up 8.4 percent.

Sales in Italy and Germany decreased 6 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. France's sales slid 3.3 percent.

Electric cars accounted for 15.2 percent of total EU market share. New battery electric car sales grew 28.4 percent and hybrid-electric car sales advanced 18.7 percent.

Petrol car registrations reported an annual fall of 20.5 percent with all major markets showing decreases. The market share of petrol cars declined to 29.1 percent. Likewise, the diesel car market share fell to 9.7 percent after a 28 percent plunge in diesel car sales.