New car sales in western Europe fell 1.3% in May, nipping April’s slight gain in the bud, industry data showed on Wednesday.

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Citing figures compiled by Brussels-based car industry group Acea, Reuters said new car registrations slipped to 1.22 million in May, keeping performance this year patchy despite the second strong month in a row in Germany, the continent’s biggest car market by far, plus solid numbers in France and Spain.


BMW and Kia Motors strongly outpaced the market again, while Italy’s struggling Fiat was hit especially hard by a strike of car transport truckers – its group registrations fell by just over a quarter.


PSA sales edged 0.1% higher, providing its first advance in market share this year, Reuters noted.


The report said registrations in the 15 older European Union members plus Norway, Switzerland and Iceland contracted 1.4% in the first five months of 2005 to 6.34 million cars.

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Including the new EU members except Malta and Cyprus, registrations slipped 1.7% in May and fell 2.4% in the first five months amid surging used car imports to Poland, the report added.


“While the month had one more working day in almost all countries, the May figure was heavily influenced by the significant drop in Italy due to the one-month long strike of car transporters, which disrupted delivery of new vehicles,” ACEA said in a statement cited by Reuters.