New car sales in Bulgaria dropped slightly in 2013
Sales of new cars in Bulgaria in 2013 were slightly lower than in 2012, with figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) showing a 0.3 per cent decrease.
A total of 19 352 new cars were sold in Bulgaria in 2013, just less than the 19 419 sold in 2012.
However, new car sales figures in Bulgaria in December 2013 were 5.6 per cent higher than in December 2012 – 2096 against 1985.
Across the EU motor vehicle market, 2013 saw a total of 11 850 905 new car sales, ACEA said. With a contraction of 1.7 per cent in the EU year-on-year in 2013, new car registrations have been on the decline for six consecutive years.
In terms of annual volumes, 2013 is the worst year since 1995 (15 EU countries at the time), and the worst ever since ACEA began the series in 2003 with the enlarged EU.
In December, most EU markets posted growth, as did all the major ones, from 1.4 per cent in Italy, to 5.4 per cent in Germany, 9.4 per cent in France, 18.2 per cent in Spain and 23.8 per cent in the UK.
With a 13.3 per cent increase in new car registrations in December 2013, the EU recorded the largest monthly year-on-year growth since December 2009 (16.6 per cent). However, in absolute figures, the results were the third lowest to date for a month of December with a total of 906 294 units, ACEA said.
Over 12 months, results were more contrasted across markets. The UK recorded a double-digit growth (10.8 per cent), while Spain posted a more moderate increase (3.3 per cent), and Germany (-4.2 per cent), France (-5.7 per cent) and Italy (-7.1 per cent) saw their demand for new cars decline.
Photo: Graham Briggs/sxc.hu
