BERLIN (Reuters) – The European Union car market is set to contract this year, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Friday, forecasting a 1% decline to 9.6 million units in a downward revision from an initial projection of a return to growth.
“Compared to pre-pandemic figures for 2019, this represents a 26% drop in car sales in just three years,” ACEA said in a statement, referring to the updated forecast of 9.6. million units this year.
Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic, bottlenecks in semiconductor supply and the war in Ukraine have all affected the sector, ACEA said, calling for framework conditions to be put in place to allow a recovery.
“These include greater resilience of European supply chains, a European law on critical raw materials that guarantees strategic access to the raw materials needed for e-mobility and accelerated deployment charging infrastructure,” said BMW ACEA President and CEO Oliver Zipse.
(Written by Paul Carrel)