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(ANSA-AFP) - PARIS, JAN 18 - New vehicle registrations in
Europe dropped to their lowest level since 1993 last year as
component shortages continued to hinder automakers, an industry
group reported Wednesday. Despite an uptick in sales since
August, the overall number of EU registrations fell 4.6 percent
to 9.3 million, a level last seen three decades ago, the
European Automobile Manufacturers' Association said. It marks a
third difficult year for the industry since the factory and
showroom closures during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2021 and the
resulting supply bottlenecks -- not least for key semiconductors
-- that persisted even as the pandemic eased. Germany was the
only major European market that saw growth last year, at 1.1
percent, while Italy registrations plunged 9.7 percent, France
7.8 percent and Spain 5.4 percent. The German auto industry
association said last week that it expected only a mild recovery
for the domestic car market this year, even as supply chain
bottlenecks are expected to ease. (ANSA-AFP).
