Paris (AFP)

The European car market continued its descent into hell in April, collapsing 76.3% year on year, affected by the closure of dealers because of the coronavirus in many countries, according to figures published Tuesday by industry professionals .

New car registrations had already dropped 55.1% in March.

Particularly affected, French manufacturers fell more than the average in April: deliveries by the Renault group (with Dacia, Lada and Alpine) fell by 79% over the month and those by PSA (Peugeot, Citroën, Opel / Vauxhall, DS ) by 81.2%, the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA) announced in a press release.

Only 270,682 new passenger cars were put on the roads of the European Union last month, compared to 1.14 million in April 2019.

This collapse is the result of the paralysis of the auto trade. "The first full month of Covid-19 restrictions caused the biggest drop in auto demand ever" in Europe, "most dealers (having been closed) across the EU," said ACEA .

All national markets suffered a double-digit fall. But Italy (-97.6%), Spain (-96.5%) and France (-88.8%) were among the hardest hit, penalizing Renault and PSA who made a significant contribution of their activity. Germany suffered a slightly less catastrophic decline (-61.1%).

The British market fell by 97.3%. But, Brexit obliges, the ACEA now compiles its statistics for the EU outside the United Kingdom, by restating the figures for 2019 in order to allow comparisons from one year to the next.

In total, from January to April, the decline in the European market reached -38.5%, a delay which has no chance of being completely caught up in the year, even in the event of a strong recovery.

Most car factories were still idling or shutdown in mid-May, and sales only picked up very slowly after the containment measures were lifted.

"We are in a deep crisis, comparable to that of 2008-2009, even worse. We could have in Europe a drop in the market of 22% this year compared to last year", declared to AFP Xavier Mosquet , BCG automotive expert.

"Consumers in Europe are likely to take time to become auto buyers again," he added, deeming a continent-wide support plan necessary.

Besides French manufacturers, the number one European Volkswagen suffered a 72.7% drop in deliveries in April.

Among the main groups, the smallest decline was recorded by BMW (including Mini) to -65.3%, when its high-end rival, Daimler, lost 78.8% of its registrations.

Leaded by the collapse of the Italian market, Fiat Chrysler, in the process of merging with PSA, suffered the heaviest fall (-87.7%).

© 2020 AFP