Automakers last month logged their worst September sales in Europe in more than a quarter century, putting the industry on course to come up short of last year’s disastrous showing.
New vehicle registrations plummeted 25 percent to 972,723, the lowest for the month since 1995, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said yesterday.
The lobby group largely attributed the drop to a semiconductor shortage, which worsened when COVID-19 outbreaks idled chip packaging and testing facilities in Southeast Asia.
After three consecutive declines, sales in Europe have fallen in more months than they have risen this year. While contraction was unthinkable early this year