An end-of-the-year buying frenzy ahead of tough new emissions rules for automakers and changes in consumer-incentive programs propelled new-vehicle sales in Europe higher for 2019.
European registrations rose 21 percent in December to 1.26 million vehicles in European Union and European Free Trade Association countries, according to industry association ACEA. The double-digit gain was enough to push full-year 2019 sales 1.2 percent higher to 15.8 million, reversing the previous year’s slight drop.
Sales rose in December in many European markets as automakers tried to sell models with high CO2 emissions before new EU regulations went into effect on Jan. 1.
The big gain in sales was also due to a low base of comparison with 2018, when sales were crimped in the last months of the year by the introduction of emissions testing that caused supply bottlenecks at some automakers, especially Volkswagen Group.
VW Group, Europe’s top-selling automaker, had a good December with volume up 21 percent. The group’s Porsche brand, which was badly hit late last year by supply problems, saw sales jump 63 percent.
At PSA Group, Europe’s No. 2 automaker by volume, registrations fell 2.7 percent, dragged down by a steep sales decline at Opel, which axed its Adam, Karl and Cascada models in 2019. Opel sales fell 35 percent, but PSA’s other brands gained volume.
Sales increased 23 percent for Renault Group, 20 percent for Ford Motor Co. and 24 percent for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
German premium brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz saw sales rise 21 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively.
Automakers and unions in Germany, wary that gloomier times lie ahead, last week urged the government to do more to support the industry’s shift to electric vehicles, which provide less assembly work than internal combustion models.
State-backed employment schemes should support retraining, and short-term working hours should be exempted from social insurance contributions, according to a proposal published by German employers association Gesamtmetall. An umbrella fund should also be set up to help companies with the cost of the overhaul. Stakeholders would pay into the fund, the proposal said, without giving details.
The plan was discussed at a summit attended by German union IG Metall and auto executives in Berlin.
“Even if there is no economic recession or crisis, a coordinated approach between social partners and the state is required to strengthen Germany as an industrial location and to offer employees a perspective,” Gesamtmetall said in a statement.
The shift to EVs puts around 410,000 German jobs at risk by 2030, according to a study published by Germany’s National Platform for Future Mobility last week.
The government will discuss how to loosen employment rules to facilitate short-term working hours, and a decision could be reached by Jan. 29, sources familiar with discussions told Reuters.