European passenger-car registrations slumped 25 percent in September as the microchip shortage squeezed the supply of vehicles to dealerships.
Sales of new cars were 972,723 in the European Union, UK and EFTA markets, the lowest for the month since 1995, data from industry association ACEA showed on Friday.
The industry group ACEA largely attributes the decline to the semiconductor shortage, which has led to production stoppages at car factories.
The September sales plunge puts the industry on course to come up short of last year's disastrous showing amid COVID-19 lockdowns that closed many dealerships.
After three consecutive declines, sales in Europe have fallen in more months than they have risen this year.
Market researchers now expect sales to be down this year after optimism in early 2021 when ACEA predicted growth of about 10 percent.
"We currently forecast that this year will not eclipse the desperately weak 2020 result," LMC Automotive said in a report. "Our assumption is that sourcing issues will be with us throughout next year and continue to undermine the connection between positive underlying demand drivers and new-vehicle sales."
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All major European markets recorded double-digit declines in September, with sales in the UK down 35 percent, Italy shrinking by 33 percent, Germany down 26 percent and France down 21 percent.
Hyundai, Kia winners; Skoda, Alfa among losers
Sales at Volkswagen Group, Europe's largest automaker, fell 30 percent, with Skoda down 40 percent, Audi down 31 percent, VW brand down 28 percent and Seat falling 17 percent.
No. 2 Stellantis saw its sales drop by 30 percent, with Alfa Romeo down 47 percent, Peugeot and Fiat both down 36 percent, Opel down 25 percent, Jeep down 28 percent and Citroen down 24 percent. Sales of DS brand's upscale cars rose 9 percent.
Renault Group registrations fell by 24 percent with Renault down 30 percent and Dacia down 14 percent.
Hyundai-Kia, Europe's fourth-largest group by volume, bucked the 25 percent overall market slide in September with a 6.9 percent increase in registrations, pushing its market share up to 11.1 percent from 7.8 percent in September 2020. Kia's registrations increased 8.1 percent and Hyundai's volume rose by 5.7 percent.
Toyota Motor sales fell 18 percent, with Toyota brand down 19 percent and Lexus down 11 percent
Mercedes-Benz's registrations plunged 50 percent and BMW brand was down 17 percent.
Ford's volume fell 46 percent.
Automakers have managed supply shortages by prioritizing their most lucrative models and reducing their spending on marketing and incentives, buoying profit margins.
BMW earlier this month raised its projection for annual returns from automaking to 9.5 percent to 10.5 percent, up from 7 percent to 9 percent.
Suppliers have not been as fortunate. Companies that have cut their earnings guidance in recent weeks include France's Faurecia, Germany’s Hella and U.S.-listed Aptiv.
EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story misstated Hyundai-Kia's September sales increase and market share.
Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report
