Repsol YPF
Ruta
Car sales still down in Europe during the first quarter of 2009
Sales figures from the first quarter of 2009 give a glimmer of hope for the European car market. After beginning the year with a big fall in sales countries in the EU have started to contain the fall in sales since March. It seems that in the end the incentives set up in ten EU countries are bringing good results.
Overall sales figures in the first quarter of 2009 were not looking good after the publication of the January registrations numbers, these showed that sales of vehicles had fallen by 27%. In February the fall was down to 18.3% and this “progress” continued through March as the fall was only 9%. In spite of this substantial improvement in car sales the overall drop for 2009 as a whole is still minus 17.2%.
The EU has issued a statement which explains that it is remaining cautious when it comes to a positive evaluation and making comments about the improved sales figures for cars. But the different plans that give incentives to car purchasers seem to be having some success in ten countries of the EU.
Turning to the countries with the best improvements, worth mentioning are countries like Germany, France and Italy which have recorded rises of 39%, 8% and 0.2% respectively. These are in direct contrast with the fall seen in others like the UK and Spain – 30.5% and 38.7% respectively. Estonia, and other countries like Rumania & Bulgaria have recorded the worst sales figures of all as their markets have shrunk by around 80.3%.
4/20/2009
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