Torn supply chains due to the war in Ukraine and related production disruptions caused the EU car market to collapse. In March, passenger car sales dropped 20% to 844,000 vehicles. Most countries recorded double-digit declines in sales. In Austria, passenger car sales fell by 30% in March.
The declines were also high in major markets. Sales in Spain fell 30%, followed by Italy, 29.7%, France, 19.5%, and Germany, 17.5%.
Delivery failures for wiring harnesses
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine already exacerbated the sector’s problems in February and caused new registrations in the EU to fall to their lowest level since registrations began 32 years ago. The effects of wire harness delivery failures only had a full impact on registration statistics in March. Only in the first year of Corona 2020 sales were even lower due to the lockdown across Europe.
Almost all car manufacturers reversed their sales last month: the VW brand lost almost 30% in the European Union. The mother Opel Stellantis sold a third less than a year ago. BMW shrank nearly 18% and Mercedes lost 13%.