New passenger car registration went down by 45.9 percent in Romania in June 2013 over the same month last year, this being the third highest drop in the EU, after Ireland - down 73.7 percent and the Netherlands - down 53.6 percent, according to the recent data published by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

In the European Union, new passenger car registration declined by 5.6 percent in June compared to the same month in 2012. The highest increase was recorded by Denmark - up 19.2 percent, followed by Slovenia - up 17.4 percent.

From January to June this year, the car registrations in Romania also went down 26.4 percent, to 24,549 units, while the demand for new cars in the EU dropped 6.6 percent compared to the first half of 2012, according to ACEA.

Estonia recorded the highest year-on-year growth of 15.2 percent in the first six months of this year, followed by UK - up 10 percent. Other major markets in the EU, such as Spain, Italy, Germany and France recorded drops in this period.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sxc.hu)