European new car registrations fell in Europe in April 2017, down 6.6% to 1,191,034 units.

The decline was said as mainly the result of the Easter holidays.

Most of the major markets saw demand fall in April, with the UK posting a double-digit drop (-19.8%), followed by Germany (-8.0%), France (-6.0%) and Italy (-4.6%), said European trade organisation ACEA.

Only the Spanish market grew last month, recording a slight increase (+1.1%).

Positive contributions mainly came from the so-called EU-12 countries (+8.2%), those member states that have joined the EU since 2004.

From January to April 2017, demand for passenger cars remained positive (+4.7%), totalling 5,332,854 units.

Italy (+8.0%), Spain (+6.1%), Germany (+2.5%), France (+2.0%) and the United Kingdom (+1.1%) all saw their markets grow during the first four months of the year, despite the declines observed in April.

EU sales - 12-month trend 2015 - 2017

UK sales - 12-month trend 2015 - 2017