Figures released by ACEA show that the EU car market was down for the eighth successive month in May.

EU car sales in May reached 1,106,845 units, although ACEA did point out that May 2012 had a working day less than May 2011.

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Five months into the year, new car registrations amounted to 5,442,326 units, or 7.7% less than in the same period last year.

ACEA said that in May, most national markets shrank across the region. The major ones faced contractions ranging from 4.8% in Germany to 8.2% in Spain, 14.3% in Italy and 16.2% in France. Only the UK posted growth (+7.9%).

In its monthly analysis of the West European car market, LMC Automotive said that sales in Western Europe fell by 9.6% in May. It said that the Seasonally Adjusted Annualised Rate (SAAR) of sales for Western Europe showed the market was running at 12.3m units in May, ‘still far from healthy’.

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LMC said that it retains a forecast of a 6% fall in West Europe car sales for the full year (to 12m) and also warned that the precarious position of the eurozone means that the risks to the forecast are skewed to the downside.

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At a conference last month, LMC’s forecasters said that the West European car market is also likely to be flat in 2013, suggesting no early relief for hard-pressed OEMS in Europe grappling with overcapacity as well as soft transaction prices.

The weak outlook in Europe is especially bad news for those OEMs who are heavily reliant on the worst performing markets – Italy, Spain and France.

EU car sales so far this year (first five months) for Fiat, PSA and Renault are down by 17%, 15% and 20% respectively. Market leader VW Group, by contrast, is down by just 2%, reflecting relatively buoyant market conditions in Germany.