Europe’s five largest markets all posted negative results.
France and the UK — markets that locked down in late October and early November — each saw sales plunge 27 percent. Spain and Italy registered drops of 19 percent and 8.3 percent, respectively. Registrations in Germany, which allowed car showrooms to remain open until Wednesday, slipped 3 percent.
With just one month to go, the European car market has shrunk by 3.8 million units this year. Bloomberg Intelligence is forecasting a 25 percent decline for the full year.
The industry figures add to signs that automakers are in for a tough winter even as the looming arrival of vaccines stokes market optimism.
Germany’s automakers and suppliers expect to cut production as demand craters in export markets, a monthly survey by the Ifo Institute found earlier this month.
Electric vehicles have been a bright spot, with Bloomberg Intelligence predicting that hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-powered vehicles will exceed sales of diesel cars this quarter for the first time.
Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report.
