Stellantis European sales were down 8.7% in March, the Italian-French-American carmaker said Thursday. Stellantis registered 228,740 cars in Europe (EU+EFTA+UK) in March.

The market share decreased from 17.6% to 16.5%. In the first three months of the year, the group registered 598,167 cars, 4.2% more than in the same period last year. The group's market share was virtually unchanged at 17.5% (it was 17.7%) in the three months to the end of March, according to the carmaker's annual report. The company is owned by Italy's Benetton and France's Piatkus, as well as France's Giorgio Armani and Germany's Daimler. It is the second largest carmaker in Europe, after Renault, with a market share of 17.8%. The group is also the second-largest in the United States, after Ford.