Torn supply chains due to the Ukraine war and the associated production interruptions have caused the car market in the EU to collapse.
In March, passenger car sales fell by 20.5 percent to around 844,000 vehicles, as the European manufacturers' association ACEA announced in Brussels on Wednesday.
Most countries recorded double-digit declines in sales.
They were highest in Spain with minus 30.2 percent, followed by Italy with minus 29.7 percent, France (minus 19.5 percent) and Germany (minus 17.5 percent).
The Russian invasion of Ukraine had already exacerbated the industry's problems in February and caused new registrations in the EU to fall to their lowest level since records began 32 years ago.
The effects of the delivery failures for wiring harnesses only had a full impact on the registration statistics in March.
Only in the first Corona year 2020 was sales even lower due to the Europe-wide lockdown.
Almost all car manufacturers put their sales into reverse last month: the VW brand lost almost 30 percent in the European Union, Opel's mother Stellantis sold a third less than a year ago, the BMW brand shrank by 17.8 percent and Mercedes lost 13.2 percent.
Porsche, on the other hand, increased slightly (plus 4.8 percent).
Since the beginning of the year, new registrations by all manufacturers have fallen by 12.3 percent to around 2.2 million units.