Car sales in Europe fall on account of new emission test

Last year, the European Union introduced on-road emission testing of new cars, while existing models were allowed to be made compliant by September 2018. According to a media report this has resulted in sales of some models being halted with overall car sales falling by over 23% in Western Europe.

In the month of August, car dealers gave discounts to sell off excess inventory before the new rules came into force. Sales figures for the month of September 2018 fell to 1.05 million units from 1.36 million units a year earlier. Volkswagen group sales figures fell by 50%, while Renault dropped 28.7% and Fiat Chrysler fell by 32.1% across Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain. Models worst hit include VW’s Golf and Touran, Renault’s Espace and Kadjar, Nisan’s Qashqai and FCA’s Tipo and Renegade. Germany saw the highest drop in total car sales at 30.5% followed by Italy at 25.4%. In Britain, car sales dropped by 20.5% and France registered a drop of 12.8%.

The Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test (WLTP) came into force on September 1, halting sales of models not yet re-certified to meet new pollution regulations. While the new tests will not change the existing limits under Euro 6 norms, they make use of a portable emission measuring device attached to the vehicles. Results of this test should match with the laboratory testing for the cars to be allowed to be sold.

Source: Reuters