Europe Car Sales Fall, Industry Battles With Semiconductor Shortage

A worker assembles the new S-Class Mercedes-Benz passenger car on the "Factory 56" assembly line at the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant in Sindelfingen, Germany. Lennart Preiss/Getty Images

Car sales in Europe fell in January as regional auto manufacturers struggled to get key components, including semiconductor chips, owing to supply chain issues, according to a recent report by an industry lobbying association.

“In January 2022, EU passenger car registrations continued to fall, with the ongoing semiconductor shortage still negatively affecting car sales across the region,” said the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (EAMA) report (pdf).