Europe Car Sales Fall 2.6 pct. in Sept
Agent009 submitted on 10/16/2006 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 10:38:39 AM
24 user comments | Category: Misc News | Source: | SOURCE: www.chron.com
Renault and GM lost the most ground as new-car sales in Europe fell 2.
6 percent in September, though Fiat, Toyota, BMW and Volkswagen saw sales grow, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association ACEA said Friday.
France's Renault SA saw the largest drop, slipping 14.9 percent in September compared with the same month last year. It sold 104,815 cars in Europe in September.
Detroit-based General Motors Corp. sold 9.1 percent fewer cars at 141,551.
Sales of PSA Peugeot Citroen SA cars fell 4 percent, while DaimlerChrysler AG only slipped slightly with a 1 percent decline with flatter sales of Mercedes and a sharp drop at its Smart car unit. Ford Motor Co. was down just 0.5 percent, selling more Ford models and fewer Volvos, Land Rovers and Jaguars.
However, other carmakers have made headway.
Europe's largest car company, Volkswagen AG, saw sales rise 2.9 percent to just over a quarter of a million units thanks to better sales of its Audi and Skoda models. It now controls close to a fifth of the European market.
Italy's Fiat SpA saw sales surge 14.9 percent compared with a year ago. Its core Fiat and luxury Alfa Romeo cars proved more popular although Lancia sales were down. The company ended 17 successive quarterly losses by reporting higher profits in the final quarter of last year.
Sales of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. gained 11.8 percent, while Germany's BMW AG rose 2.5 percent. Nissan Motor Co. fell 27.1 percent to 32,485 units.
In Western Europe, new car sales only increased in Germany, by 4.5 percent, as Europe's largest economy _ and second-biggest car buyer _ finally went shopping after years of little growth.
Car sales dropped 13.3 percent in France, Europe's fourth-largest car market, and by 3.2 percent in Italy. Britain, the biggest purchaser of new cars, saw sales fall just 0.7 percent to 413,991.
ACEA's figures count sales from the 25 nations of the EU as well as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Some 1.406 million cars were sold in the region in September, the group said, down from 1.444 million in the same month last year.
Some 56,446 cars were sold in the 10 nations _ mostly Eastern European _ that joined the EU in 2004.
The fast-growing Baltic states host the few booming European car salesrooms, even though overall sales are low. New car sales rocketed 52.4 percent in Latvia, 46.4 percent in Lithuania and 9.7 percent in Estonia. Polish sales also went up 11.4 percent while Hungary dropped 15.1 percent.
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