Of the five major EU markets, only the non-Euro using UK showed sales growth.
Sales of new light vehicles in the EU declined once again in March as the rate of contraction increased. During the month passenger cars sales dropped -10.2% compared to – 9.8% less in the first three months of 2012. It was the eighteenth consecutive month of sales declines. Q1 sales of 2,989,486 were weak and apparently getting weaker as the year continues.
There’s no good news is in sight for the balance of 2013, a problem for virtually all major automakers, including the Detroit Three who are losing billions there and will continue to do so in spite of years of turnaround plans.
Of the major markets, only the non-Euro using UK showed growth of 5.9% to 395,000 vehicles. Italy (-4.9% at 132,000), Spain (-13.9% at 73,000), France (-16.2% at 166,000) and Germany (-17.1% at 281,000) saw demand decrease. Overall, the 27 countries in the EU recorded a total of 1,307,107 new cars,
From January to March, except for the UK (+7.4%), all major markets faced a double-digit downturn ranging from -11.5% in Spain to -12.9% in Germany, -13.0% in Italy and -14.6% in France. (Read AutoInformed on Global Light Vehicle Sales Steady in March at 81.3 Million Rate)
