Based on data, which is preliminary in some cases, global demand for passenger vehicles increased 5.7% in September. Global sales were up about 2.33 million units (4.3%) in the first nine months of the year from the year before.
The Asia/Pacific region increased by about 4% from the year before in September, according to preliminary estimates. All key markets in that region were up, with some posting strong gains. The region is up almost 7% for the year-to-date.
Eastern Europe (down 1.4%) is continuing to suffer from the impact of the financial crisis, which is weighing down growth in Russia as well. Despite the availability of cheap credit, registrations in that country were down by 5%. For the year, this region is down around 1% for the first nine months of the year.
The NAFTA region (up 10%) is continuing to trend upward as the U.S. reported strong growth once again despite the budget crisis.
Western Europe was up 5.5%, among the key markets, only Italy and Germany declined. For the year, the region remains down 4% from the year before.
Global registrations expected to exceed 74 million units
Global new registrations are expected to set a new record in 2013, showing growth of 4% over 2012. Overall expectations were hardly revised.
New registrations in the Asia/Pacific region are forecast to increase by about 6% in 2013 compared to the prior year; it was raised by 100,000 units due to strong growth in China and Japan.
The NAFTA registrations are expected to continue to rebound to about 18.3 million units. Registrations in Latin America are expected to grow by at least 1%, to 6.1 million units.
Eastern Europe registrations are set to decline slightly in 2013, the worsening economic outlook in conjunction with low oil prices has caused new registrations to slump, leading to a reduction in the forecast by 100,000 units.
Western European demand is forecast to decline for the fourth year in a row in 2013. Registrations are expected to fall by 400,000 units relative to 2012, with the only the UK due to post growth, of around 200,000 units. The steepest losses in terms of volume are expected to be posted by France and Germany, with 160,000 units each.
