Car sales in Western Europe grew by 6.9% year-on-year in May, according to data released by JD Power Automotive Forecasting.
Apart from March 2011, where the market grew just 0.9%, the last time car sales were in positive territory year-on-year was March 2010.
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The positive result for May was underpinned by a German market up by a stunning 22% on last year.
JD Power noted that the ‘rollercoaster ride continues for the German car market’ after it posted strong growth following a couple of weaker months. The German market annual selling rate was 3.3m units in May.
Germany’s economy continues to show a strong performance. Earlier this week, the VDA issued figures that showed continuing strong car exports.
Elsewhere, the picture is less upbeat. The selling rate in France remained subdued last month, the lull coming after the strong start to the year due to the spillover of new registrations relating to the ending of the 2010 scrappage scheme.
While the Spanish market’s selling rate crept higher for May, it still remains below 900,000 units a year. Italian sales were year-on-year up, the first time in over a year, though again, the selling rate was far from strong, JD Power said.
The UK market was again down last month, though the drop was lower than in previous months. The drop was only 1.7% though thanks to an improvement in business and fleet sales.
For the year as a whole, JD Power forecasts a West European car market of 13.06m units, marginally up on last year’s 12.97m tally.
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