Economics
European Auto Market Growth Set to Slow as Car-Sharing Expands
- Sales reached six-year high of 14 million autos in 2015
- Uber rides, BMW, Daimler car-sharing offer options to drivers
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Europe’s auto market, which reached a six-year high in 2015, is unlikely to beat its 2007 record any time soon as population growth fades and car- and ride-sharing services such as Uber Technologies Inc. offer increasing alternatives to owning a vehicle.
Car sales in Europe jumped 9.2 percent to 14.2 million vehicles in 2015, the trade group ACEA said Friday. IHS Automotive predicts that demand in 2016 will rise 2 percent to 3 percent as the economy expands, according to Carlos Da Silva, the consulting company’s vehicle-sales forecast manager for the region. Even so, last year’s registrations were 12 percent less than the almost 16 million vehicles sold nine years ago.