OREANDA-NEWS. Automotive market in Russia, which in 2011 ranked the second place among the leaders of Europe, at the end of the last year dropped to the third place in the "European championship", behind the United Kingdom.

According to data, received by the agency "AUTOSTAT" at National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of Europe, the leader in car sales in 2014 was still Germany, where it was sold 3 036 773 cars (+ 3.2%). According to the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA), the result of last year was slightly higher than it was expected and the main driver of growth was corporate sales, while demand of private individuals was less stable. Second place in the "European championship" was occupied by the United Kingdom, the car market of which grew by 9.3% to 2,476,435 cars of the last year. According to the British Society of Motor Manufacturers and dealers (SMMT), it is the best indicator for the last 10 years; therewith, a positive trend is kept for 34 consecutive months. Meanwhile, in the coming year it is expected a stabilization of the British car market. If during the consideration of the automotive market in Europe we take into account Russia, then our country dropped to the third place of the European ranking for the first time since 2011. According to preliminary estimates of the agency "AUTOSTAT", sales of passenger cars in 2014 were about 2.3 million units (-11%). Then France follows, where it was sold 1, 795, 913 vehicles (+ 0.3%). According to the French Chamber of Commerce (CCFA), the country's car market went "a plus" for the first time since 2009. Italy still closes the "top-five" of leaders with an index of 1 359 616 sold units (+ 4.2%). According to the Italian Association of Automobile Manufacturers (ANFIA), a positive result for the year was recorded after six years of decline, while sales of vehicles in Italy remain at the level of 35 years ago in quantitative terms. We should also add that due to incentive programs to subsidize the purchase of new fuel-efficient cars Spanish car market showed the highest growth among the European leaders for the last year - by 18.4% to 855,308 vehicles. As noted in the Spanish Association of manufacturers of cars and trucks (ANFAC), it is the best figure since 2010, and the positive trend is observed 16 consecutive months. In this case, the association predicts further growth in car sales in the country, which could reach 1 million vehicles in 2015.