In total, 981,429 new cars were registered in the month. While most countries posted growth, ranging from +1.2% in Poland to 112.6% in Lithuania, five recorded a downturn, including major markets such as the UK (-7.7%), Italy (-20.5%) and Spain (-27.6%). The two remaining major markets posted growth, with registrations up 13.2% in France and 15.2% in Germany. Portugal and Greece saw their markets contract by 12.7% and 49.1% respectively.

However, the year-to-date picture was less positive, with new car registrations having slipped by 0.3% over the first two months of the year, amounting to 2,023,133 units.

The majority of markets performed better over this period compared to a year ago although three of the five largest faced a double-digit downturn. The UK shrank by 10.2%, Italy by 20.5% and Spain by 25.8%. Poland (-4.2%), Portugal (-11.0%) and Greece (-58.5%) also saw their markets contract. Elsewhere, growth ranged from 1.9% in Luxembourg to 114.5% in Estonia.