Car sales in Western Europe declined by 10% in March according to data released by LMC Automotive.
The LMC data also shows the first quarter car market down 9.8% on last year at just over 2.9m units.
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Market falls were recorded in all of the major markets, with the exception of the UK. The March result for Germany will cause some concern in the industry: car sales were down by 17.1% and the first quarter market in Germany us 12.9% off last year’s pace.
Car sales in France fell further in March (down 16.4% on March last year), leaving the first quarter down nearly 15%. At this stage, another double-digit percentage drop in the French market looks likely this year, LMC said.
While sales in Spain are being supported by a scrappage scheme, the market continues to struggle. LMC also said that although Italian sales fell at a slower rate last month (-4.9%), the Italian car market “remains a concern”.
The UK remained the exception among the Big Five market results. In a seasonally strong month due to the registration plate change, the market grew by 5.8% year-on-year, again led by private registrations. In the first quarter, the UK car market is up by 7.4% on last year.
LMC forecasts that the West European car market will decline by 4.2% to 11.27m units in 2013. “The year-on-year trend will show some improvement in the second half of the year as the base for comparison becomes lower,” said LMC analyst Jonathan Poskitt.
