International car markets felt the pinch of the coronavirus pandemic in 202, as the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) announced that the number of newly registered passenger cars in the 27 EU member states fell by around 24%.

While the VDA says there is a slight recovery that has been happening in the past few months. In Germany, new registrations fell by 19%. In France, sales volume was down by a quarter. Italy suffered even more with a decline of 28%, while the United Kingdom recorded 29% fewer registrations. Spain almost lost a third of new car registrations compared with 2019. According to” Yet, in December, car sales in Europe were still 4%, or 1.2 million units, below the levels of the previous year.

On the other hand, China accounts for the largest share of global car production. More than a quarter of the cars produced worldwide originated in the country in 2019. Other important producers are the U.S., Germany and Japan. Within Europe, most of the passenger cars are manufactured in Germany, (around 4.7 million), followed by Spain and France.