Sales of new cars in the EU declined for the third consecutive month in June, falling by 6.9% over last year as Europe’s post-scrappage sales hangover continued.

Figures released by ACEA show that some 1,341,092 units were registered in the EU  in June.

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Over the first half EU car sales were almost flat on last year (+0.2%). Compared with the first six months of 2008, the market decreased by 10.3%.

In June, Germany (-32.3%), Italy (-19.1%) and France (-1.3%) were the main markets with lower registrations, whereas the UK (+10.8%) and Spain (+25.6%) recorded a rise in numbers, leaving the overall result at -6.9%. The largest drop was recorded in Slovakia (-40.6%), while the biggest increase occurred in Ireland (+75.8%).

From January to June, some 7,285,487 new cars were registered, or 0.2% more than over the same period a year ago.

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Looking at the main markets, only Germany contracted (-28.7%), while Italy (+2.9%), France (+5.4%), the UK (+19.9%) and Spain (+39.5%) all posted growth. The steepest fall was recorded in Hungary (-43.8%) and the most important increase by Portugal (+57.7%).

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Analysts have noted that the anticipated market downturn in Europe appears less severe than some had expected.

UK sales held up well in June, JD Power said earlier this month, considering that scrappage support is beginning to fall away. Car sales also held up relatively well in France and Spain.

JD Power said that OEM discounting has been employed, liberally in some cases, in order to mitigate the impact of incentive withdrawal. This has been especially true in Germany but is taking place more generally in a number of countries. This approach to the current market environment represents ‘an upside risk to our forecast for Western Europe’, JD Power acknowledged.