Car sales in western Europe slipped last month, burying hopes for a strong year-end recovery in demand, but Italy’s Fiat provided a bright spot as it showed its first sales rise in almost a year, according to a Reuters report.
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According to the news agency, Brussels-based carmaker association ACEA said on Thursday sales in western Europe fell 1.1% in November from a year ago, bringing the total number of cars sold this year to 13.2 million, a 1.3% fall from a year ago.
ACEA reportedly said the underlying trend was stabilisation as the seasonally adjusted drop was smaller.
According to Reuters, Fiat saw its first sales increase since last December and BMW also gained, while firms with older model ranges such as PSA Peugeot Citroen and General Motors suffered though Japanese and Korean carmakers continued their expansion.
“The trends from earlier in the year are confirmed, with the Asian makers, BMW and Renault doing well thanks partly to new models, and the main surprise is Fiat,” Metzler Bank auto analyst Juergen Pieper told Reuters.
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By GlobalDataThough the data delay hopes of a rebound until next year, Reuters said most analysts expect a recovery early in 2004, which would at least return sales to their 2002 level, and that matches forecasts of a broader economic recovery in the region.
Reuters said that Fiat, counting on new products such as the Panda and Lancia Ypsilon to reverse losses, saw a rise in its November sales, and its market share was its largest since February though analysts noted, however, that the basis for comparison was low and that discounts on older models may also have helped.
Sales of BMW cars jumped almost 13%, helped by its new 5-series saloon, while the Scenic minivan boosted Renault sales, the report said.
Among Japanese makers, which have been stealing market share from the Europeans over the last year, Nissan, with its small new Micra, made the strongest gains but Toyota and Mazda also performed well, Reuters said.
