Europe car sales grew for 5th straight year in 2018

The European carmakers association, ACEA, says the car market rose modestly in 2018, despite contractions in the last four months due to the impact of a new emissions test.

ACEA reported Wednesday that full-year car sales were up 0.1% to 15.2-million passenger cars, the fifth straight year of growth. That's despite four months of decreases, including by 8.4% in December, due to the impact of an updated emissions test in September.

BMW stellar performer

The introduction of the new lab test for cars drove up August sales by nearly one-third as automakers offered incentives to clear stock of vehicles not in compliance with the new standards.

Only Italy registered an increase in December sales, up 2%. Luxury automaker BMW also bucked the trend, with a 9% sales increase.

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