European Car Sales Drop 8.2% in September

For the fifth consecutive month, European car sales fell by 8.2% in September compared to the same month last year (despite the fact that there were two working days extra in Sept. '08 across the region) as the fall-out of the financial crisis and high gasoline prices reduce demand. In absolute numbers, sales stalled at 1,304,653 units, or the lowest September level since 1998. For the first nine-months of the year, a total of 11,713,937 new passenger cars were registered, representing a 4.4% decline compared to the same period of last year. -Continued

Deliveries in Western Europe fell to 1,211,378 units, or 9.3% less than in September 2007. Despite the downturn, the French market proved to be robust, growing by an impressive 8.4%, compensating the drop in August sales (-7.1%). The German market managed to remain stable with a slight decrease of 1.5%. The Italian market fell by 5.5% while the steepest declines came from the UK (-21.2%) and Spain (-32.2%). From the beginning of the year, Western European car sales are down by 5.0%.

Markets in the new EU Member States recorded a significant growth (+7.8%) in September with 93,275 new vehicles registered. From the four largest markets, only the Hungarian declined (-4.3%) while the Czech Republic (+32.2%), Romania (+17.4%) and Poland (+1.8%) all posted growth. Over the first nine months of the year, car sales in this region have risen by 3.0%.