Italian car sales dropped by 19% to 63,000 units last month while Spanish car sales plunged by a massive 23.8% to 44,578 units. French sales were down 9.8% when the scrappage scheme was near end with British car sales falling by 17.5% to 55,305 for the second month in a row. The decline comes in advance of the introduction of the September ‘60’ plate, and the market for newly registered cars is expected to fall by around 10% this month, from 367,929 units last year, even though over the first seven months of 2010 the market remains 13.2% above 2009 at 1,300,413 units. The best-selling car was the Ford Fiesta with 2,660 units.
A French consumer credit agent said car sales will continue to show year-on-year falls in France in the coming months. Sales were exceedingly strong in the months in late 2009, when buyers took advantage of the €1,000 bonus before it was reduced.
In Spain, Government funding to help people buy new cars ran out 1st July, at the same time as a jump in their value-added tax (VAT) was introduced.
Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive, said: “New car registrations were down 17.5% in August and conditions will remain challenging through the rest of the year. The industry enjoyed a better than expected first half of the year and, despite the difficulties, SMMT is forecasting that new car registrations will close just ahead of 2009 figures.”
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