The latest figures form ACEA, the Brussels-based European carmakers’ lobby, show that the economic recession in Europe has taken its toll on automobile sales.
In June, new passenger car registrations dropped by a significant 8.1% across the EU, amounting to 1,233,298 units. According ACEA, contractions ranged from -0.3% in Germany to -1.7% in Italy, -6.2% in the UK, -12.6% in France, -31.4% in Spain and -34.1% in debt-ridden Greece and Portugal.
Surprisingly, sales in Ireland were up 31.3% in June despite the fact that the country received an €85 billion bailout last November.
In the first six-months of the year, European sales were down 2.1% to 7,120,499 cars. Among the most important markets, ACEA’s figures show that while Germany (+10.5%) performed better than in the same period a year ago, the UK (-7.1%), Italy (-13.1%) and Spain (-26.8%) saw a significant decrease in deliveries. France remained stable with a 1% increase.
Honda reported the biggest drop in June (-39.7%), followed by Chrysler (-30.9%), Mazda (-28.4%) and the Toyota Group (-25.8%). On the other side of the spectrum, Ford was up 1.2%, the BMW Group +2.6%, Hyundai +9.1% and Kia an amazing +14.1%.
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