The European economy remains weak with no end to the Euro zone debt crisis in sight.
EU car sales declined 2% in July but increased by 7.7% in August, recording growth for only the third time during the year in the European Union.
In July, the EU posted registrations of 1,012,910 new cars compared to the year earlier period. In the largest markets, only Germany posted growth (+10%), while Italy (-10%), France (-6%), Spain (-4%) and the UK (-4%) all saw their markets decrease.
August results were somewhat better when compared to a weak August in 2010 (+8%) as new EU registrations totaled 753,709 in the month. Most markets expanded, including all the bigger ones. Germany (+18%), the UK (+7%), Spain (+6%), France (+3%) and Italy (+2%) all performed better than last year.
However, eight months into 2011, a total of 8,888,793 new cars were registered in the EU, or 1.3% less than in the same period a year ago, according to data the automakers’ trade group (ACEA) released today. This means the EU market in total has been shrinking for almost four straight years.
Germany posted double-digit growth (+11.2%), France remained stable (+0.4%), the UK was down 6.1%, Italy contracted by 12.0% and Spain fell by 22.2%.
