Registrations for several European fleet markets showed recovery for the first half of 2020 after huge drops following the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the industry, looking at Germany, Spain, France, U.K., and Italy. 

New car registrations in Germany plummeted by 34.5% in the first half year of 2020, but deeper within the channels, the true fleet market showed the best performance with registrations shrinking only by 25.6% when compared to the same period in 2019, and declined the least when compared to other EU markets, Dataforce found.

The U.K. car market appears to be getting back on track as registrations continue to recover, though this occurred slowly through May and June, Dataforce found. The market in the U.K. in March was down by 44.4% compared to the same time last year. Year to date, June shows the U.K. total market down by 48.5%.

Meanwhile, the first half year in France was dominated by COVID-19 and government incentives to support the automotive industry. After dealership closures on March 17, new car registrations slumped by 88.8% in April.

During the first half year in Italy, new car registration fell by 47.9% compared to the same period in 2019. Most affected by the virus was the Rent-A-Car segment with a fall of 97.1% in March and 99.7% in April compared to the year before, there were almost no new registrations. This decrease continued in May with 92.4%, though June has started to see some recovery in registrations.

After a strong start in January and February, the virus hit Spain in March and new car registrations fell by 69.5%. Following a disastrous April and an even worse May, new car registrations in June were down by 36.1%, though true fleets saw a smaller decline of 18.2% in June which reduced the total loss for the first half year to 38.2%.