BMW and Kia were the only automakers to make sales gains in Europe in August as overall registrations plunged by 18 percent.
Sales in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) fell to 884,394 vehicles, according to data released on Thursday by industry association ACEA.
All countries in the region, except Cyprus, recorded losses compared to the previous year. Registrations in Germany and France fell sharply while they edged down in Italy, the data showed.
Bucking the downward trend in August, Kia sales rose 19 percent while BMW brand registrations were up 7.8 percent.
Europe's biggest automaker, Volkswagen Group saw sales fall 24 percent, with Seat down 33 percent, Audi down 28 percent, VW brand down 25 percent, Porsche down 16 percent and Skoda down 14 percent.
Sales at No. 2, PSA Group declined by 19 percent. Among PSA brands Opel had the worst result with registrations plunging 37 percent. DS sales were down 17 percent, Citroen fell 14 percent and Peugeot was down 6.4 percent.
Renault Group reported a drop of 23 percent, with Dacia down 34 percent and Renault brand down 12 percent.
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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles posted a 6.9 percent decline with Alfa Romeo down 17 percent, Jeep down 12 percent and Fiat down 3.3. percent.
Ford's registrations were down 13 percent.
Mercedes-Benz sales fell 4.3 percent.
Among Asian brands, Nissan's sales fell 17 percent, Hyundai's volume was down 8 percent and Toyota brand sales fell by 4.3 percent.
20% annual drop
August's surprisingly weak sales are a stumbling block in automakers' pandemic recovery path, suggesting the industry could be in store for an even worse year than expected.
In July, registrations dropped by 3.7 percent. In June they were down 24 percent and in May sales fell 57 percent.
The August drop was worse than the 15 percent decline that Michael Dean, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, anticipated based on data reported by the top-five countries in Europe that account for almost three quarters of sales. The fall is surprising given the expectation of some pent-up demand after months of lockdowns, he said in a report Wednesday.
“Sales are on track to decline by at least 20 percent in 2020, and the drop may be worse if August’s setback is an indication that July’s demand bounce was only a short-lived recovery supported by subsidies,” Dean wrote.
While government subsidies helped sales recover in recent months, France’s scrappage program that offered 5,000-euro ($5,900) subsidies toward new-car purchases expired at the end of July. Coronavirus infection-rate spikes in France and Spain now pose a renewed threat.
Europe’s new-car registrations have fallen by almost a third this year to 7.3 million. Sales have held up better in the U.S. and have started growing again in China.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has held firm against calls by the country’s auto industry for more state aid, despite some of her ministers calling for additional help.
Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report
