Thursday. 28.03.2024

The coronavirus crisis is having devastating effects on the economy. And car sales - one of the best thermometers to measure the progress of a country - also reflect that sharp drop in activity and consumption.

According to the latest figures released by Statistics Finland, in the January to July period of 2020 a total of 103,053 vehicles were first registered. Compared to the year before, there was an decrease of 12%.

In the case of passenger cars, the fall is even greater. The number of passenger cars first registered in the January to July period was 56,488, which is 18.7% down from the year before.

The most common passenger car makes first registered in the January to July period were Toyota, Skoda and Volkswagen.

Passenger-cars-registration-July-2020Source: Statistics Finland.

Slight improvement in July

However, the figures improved slightly in July. A total of 15,480 new motor vehicles were registered, of which 10,075 were automobiles. First registrations increased by 4.7% from the corresponding month of the previous year.

The number of new passenger cars registered in July was 9,101, which was 1.3% down from the year before.

The share of new diesel-driven passenger cars was 13.4%.

These data are based on the Traffic Affairs Register of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom). The numbers are exclusive of the vehicles on the Åland Islands.

New car sales fell 18.7% so far this year