In the wake of the ongoing health emergency that shows no signs of abating, the automotive sector of 2021 has seen a very difficult start.

As we have already seen in January, also in February the final balance of new car registrations is still negative.

According to data published by ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, 771,486 units were put into circulation in EU countries, i.e. a decrease of 19.3% compared to the same month corresponding to last year (956,430 registrations).

For the President of ANFIA, Paolo Scudieri, this is the worst February figure recorded by the car market in terms of volumes since 2013.

Specifically, the number of new cars registered marks a decline in all five major European markets: -19.0% in Germany, -38.4% in Spain, -20.9% in France, -35.5% in the UK and -12.3% in Italy. The more contained decrease in our country is mainly due to the benefits related to the incentives established by the Budget Law also reserved for all cars with traditional fuel and CO2 emissions up to 135 g / km.

Germany still leads with 194,349 new registrations, while Sweden (+ 5.3%) and Norway (+ 3.3%) are the only nations to remain on positive trend.

On the fuel side, however, the month of February showed a loss of 35.7% of petrol vehicles, 37.5% of diesel cars and 15% of methane / LPG cars. A completely opposite trend for hybrid cars (+ 146%) and plug-in models (+ 124%), thanks also to eco-bonuses and scrapping incentives.

Finally, as far as car brands are concerned, only two are growing in February 2021: Alpine (+ 59.6%) and Smart (+ 70.1%).