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The National Franchised Dealers’ Association (NFDA) has welcomed further growth in the European new car market.

Figures released by ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, show that passenger car registrations rose 16% in May, marking 33 consecutive months of growth. Year-to-date, the market grew by 9.9%, totalling 6.4 million units.

All the largest European markets performed well: Italy growing by 27.3%, France up by 22.3% and Spain up 20.9%. Germany (11.9%) and the UK (2.5%) grew at a more modest rate.

NFDA director Sue Robinson said: “It is extremely positive to see that European new passenger car registrations rose 16% in May, reaching 1,288,220 units.

“These results are in line with recent predictions from the ACEA, which revised its forecast for 2016 car registrations from the initial 2% growth to 5%.

“Positive factors such as decline in oil prices and very low inflation have been supporting European economic recovery. Real GDP in the EU is now expected to grow moderately by 1.8% in 2016 after rising 2.0% in 2015.

“European car registrations currently represent almost a quarter of the global market and we are pleased to see that the automotive sector across Europe has made again its significant contribution to the overall economy.”

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