Car sales in Western Europe fell by 11.4% in February to 851,500 units. Year-on-year declines were seen in nearly all markets, according to data released by LMC Automotive.
Among those contributing most to the February fall were the French (-20%) and Italian (-18.9%) car markets.
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For the first two months of the year, LMC estimates that car sales in Western Europe were a little under 1.8m units, 9.8% below the same period last year.
LMC pointed out that the French market’s weak February 2012 result compares to February 2011 when the spillover of scrappage scheme sales were helping inflate registration figures. However, the latest month’s annualised selling rate (SAAR) of under 2m indicates the French market is being held back by a weakening economy.
There was a relatively favourable result for Germany: sales down by 0.1% — the year-to-date market was down by 0.2%.
Spanish sales failed to make any progress in February and the selling rate continues to hover around the 800,000 units a year mark. In the UK, sales slipped back in what is a seasonally weak month.
LMC said that the annualised selling rate (SAAR) for Western Europe, while far from strong, was an improvement from January, helped by a strong SAAR in Germany (3.5m units). LMC said that the flat result in Germany was ‘respectable given the ongoing difficulties faced by the eurozone’.
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