Europe’s Car Market Falls for the First Time Since 2013, Dragged Down by the U.K.
- New-car registrations dropped 8.7% during December, ACEA says
- Carmakers are face more obstacles from trade to Brexit in 2019
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Annual car sales in Europe dropped for the first time since 2013, led by a sagging U.K. market where concerns over Brexit turned off consumers -- and have only intensified as politicians argue over the path to a divorce.
Passenger-car registrations dropped 0.04 percent to 15.6 million vehicles in the European Union and European Free Trade Association, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. This follows four months of straight declines after new EU emissions test rules came into force, leading to production bottlenecks.