The main markets recorded double-digit declines – with Germany a fall of 25.7%, in Italy of 32.7%, in France of 20.5% – over one year.
Le Monde with AFP
In September, the European automotive market returned to its 1995 level with 718,598 new cars sold, a decrease of 23.1% over one year, announced Friday, October 15 the association of European manufacturers in a statement .
In September 2020, the manufacturers were able to bounce after the confines, but September 2021 was marked by the “lack of vehicles caused by the shortage of semiconductors”, can be read in the communiqué.
The main markets recorded double-digit decreases – with Germany in Germany, in Italy of 32.7%, in France by 20.5% and Spain of 15.7% – between September 2020 and September 2021.
In cumulated since the beginning of the year 2021, it has also sold more than 7.5 million vehicles, or 500,000 more vehicles than last year at the same period.
The demand for components is very strong in the automotive sector for more and more equipped vehicles in electronic systems, the ABS engine through airbags and parking assistance. However, in a context of recovery of activity after the lifting of sanitary restrictions, the manufacturers are in competition with other flea-gourmet industries – computers, smartphones, connected objects – which capture a good part of these parts manufactured for Their major part in Asia.
A situation that should last in 2022
Unless this shortage “can not be solved quickly, the outlook should be further reduced” in October, said Tuesday, October 12, the British Constructors Association (SMMT). This situation “should last a good part of 2022” especially as “new outbreaks of the Variant Delta of COVID affects significant products [of semiconductors] in East Asia”.
In September, only the Hyundai-Kia group posted sales up.
But in the first nine months of the year, the Volkswagen and Stellantis leaders supernare with an increase of 8.1% of sales for the German group and 8.3% for the Franco-Italian-American, after a Catastrophic year 2020.
Despite the good Dacia scores, the Renault group has been moving since the beginning of the year down (- 6.5%), like Daimler (- 5.6%), Ford (- 11.2%) or Nissan (- 12.4%). BMW-Mini posted a 10.9% increase, Toyota 19.8% and Volvo 7.4%.