back down again, French car sales In April, supply chains for European manufacturers were hit by the fallout from the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg East reported.
The PFA Automobile Federation (PFA) said in a statement on Sunday that new passenger car registrations in France fell by 23% from the previous year to 108,723 vehicles. The light truck market took a bigger hit, falling by 32%.
Supply chain disruptions caused by the Ukraine war have dampened European automakers’ hopes of recovering from last year’s crisis, when a shortage of semiconductors disrupted factories. Passenger car registrations in Europe fell 19% in March, the ninth consecutive monthly decline. Volkswagen recently warned of further supply damage and unexpected commodity price swings, amid increasing pressure on major metal producer Russia.
For automakers, Russia’s invasion of its neighbor has disrupted local suppliers of wire, forcing Volkswagen and BMW to temporarily halt production. Expectations for improvement in semiconductor availability are also dwindling as current bottlenecks are expected to persist into next year.
Siemens Energy saw supply chain disruptions pressure its revenue and profitability, while BMW in March slashed revenue expected from the auto industry due to the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.