New car sales in the European Union declined by 3.3% in December, dragged down by slowing demand in Germany, data showed on Thursday, in the first decrease in 16 months. The year-on-year drop can also be attributed to a comparatively strong performance of the market in December 2022, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said. In the whole of 2023, new car registrations rose 13.9%, to 10.5 million vehicles, with double-digit growth in Italy (+18.9%), Spain (+16.7%) and France (+16.1%) from a year before.