Rome: Sales of new cars in the European Union rose year-on-year by 5.2 per cent in June and 2.9 per cent in the first half of 2018, industry figures showed on Tuesday. About 1.57 million vehicles were sold in June and 8.45 million in January-June, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said in its monthly bulletin. Among major EU markets, June sales rose by 9.2 per cent in France, 8 per cent in Spain and 4.2 per cent in Germany, while they fell by 3.5 per cent in Britain and 7.3 per cent in Italy.
In the first half of 2018, Spain registered the biggest sales increase (+10.1 per cent) followed by France (+4.7 per cent) and Germany (+2.9 per cent). In Britain and Italy the market contracted by 6.3 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively. New car sales are seen as an indicator of economic health.
Volkswagen, the EU market leader, took a 24.4 per cent share of sales in the first half of the year, an improvement from the 23.3 per cent quota held in January-June 2017. — dpa
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
