Automotive forecaster LMC has revised down its forecast for car sales in Western Europe this year as a result of a recent weakening of sales.
Car sales in Western Europe declined by 7.7% in July. LMC said that the latest month’s results highlight that the region’s car market is under considerable pressure with the Seasonally Adjusted Annualised Rate (SAAR) of sales slowing to just 11m units in July, despite reports of manufacturers pushing the market through discounting and self-registrations.
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The July decline was the tenth consecutive monthly year-on-year fall.
LMC trimmed its forecast for Western European car sales in 2012 to 11.9m units (7.3% down on 2011) in the light of the recent results and an ‘ongoing dismal economic picture’. The forecaster was previously forecasting a market of 12m units this year.
LMC said that the German car market (down 5% in July and now 0.1% down in the year so far), which had performed so well earlier in the year, is now seeing its selling rate heading the wrong way as the private retail side of the market contracts.
In Spain and Italy, the markets are facing selling rates that a few years ago would have been unthinkable. In France, another sub-2m unit a year selling rate was registered. In contrast, the UK was up 9.3% year-on-year helped by ongoing strength from the private side of the market.
