New car sales in Spain rose 18.1% in January compared with the same month a year ago, according to car manufacturers’ association ANFAC.
This was the fifth straight monthly increase following the introduction of government programmes.
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A total of 70,130 cars were registered during the month, up from 59,385 in January 2008.
Spain posted a 17.9% decline in new car registrations last year, following a record drop of 28% in 2008 as the country’s worst recession in decades caused consumers to curb spending.
But the slump began to ease after the government offered subsidies for new car purchases of between EUR1,500 and EUR2,000 (US$2,250 and $3,000) from mid-May last year
Car sales in Spain are expected to fall off again after value-added tax is raised to 18% from 16% in July and the government incentive programme expires.
Last week, the International Monetary Fund predicted that Spain would be the only euro zone country to remain in recession this year and forecast a contraction of 0.6% in 2010 followed by growth of 0.9% next year.
