Fast World European car sales plunge ends woeful year for
automotive industry
EU car sales fell 16.3% in December
– with non-eurozone members Britain and Sweden the exceptions
VW sales fell 22% in December, with
GM and Ford both down around 27%. World Glass Fast.
world's market for new cars shrank in December at its fastest
monthly pace since October 2010, closing a year burdened by heavy declines in
all major eurozone economies.
Two fewer working days on average
helped send new car registrations in the European Union tumbling 16.3% last
month to 799,407 vehicles, according to data published on Wednesday by the
European automotive industry association ACEA.
The figures highlight the crisis for
carmakers in Europe, where over-indebted banks will not lend cash-strapped
consumers the funds to buy new cars as austerity pushes joblessness to a record
high of almost 12%.
Exceptions last month were
non-eurozone EU members such as Britain and Sweden, where demand increased. But
states not even in the EU, such as Switzerland and Norway, suffered
contractions.
Annual car sales volumes in the EU
fell 8.2% to 12.05m vehicles in 2012, the ACEA said. In the eurozone, they
dropped 11.3% to just under 9m, according to Reuters calculations.
For 2013, market forecaster LMC
Automotive recently estimated a 3.1% drop in western European sales to 11.4m
vehicles, compared with levels of around 12.8m and 13m in 2011 and 2010,
respectively. World Glass Fast.
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