The monthly data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, today, Friday, showed a decline in new car sales in the European Union last month amid weak demand in the four major markets, especially Germany and Spain.

New car registrations fell by 5.2% year-on-year to one million cars during March, after growing by 10.1% in February.

The timing of the Easter holiday negatively impacted sales in most EU markets last month.

Among the four major markets, the German market showed the largest decline rate at 6.2%, followed by Spain at 4.7%.

In Italy, sales fell by 3.7% year-on-year, and in France by 1.5% due to declining demand.

Sales of electric cars declined by 11.3% year-on-year, with their market share shrinking to 13% compared to 13.9% in March of last year.

At the same time, sales of hybrid electric cars increased by 12.6% despite the overall market decline, bringing their market share to 29%.

Sales of gasoline-powered cars in the EU fell by 10.2%, while sales of diesel cars declined by 18.5%.

During the first quarter of this year, car sales in the EU increased by 4.4% year-on-year to 2.8 million cars.