Europe Sales Could Equal 1993 Lows

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

European car sales are about to hit lows not seen in two decades, and things aren’t likely to get better any time soon, Reuters writes.

The decimation of Western Europe’s car market isn’t merely limited to the heavily indebted countries of the south either. Reuters paints a picture of a continent ravaged by economic uncertainty

Industry data published on Friday showed that France incurred its 12th straight monthly decline in new car registrations, while demand in Spain continued to plummet.

Germany may have bucked the trend with an increase of half a percent, but once two extra working days in October are stripped out of the equation, its meager growth transforms into a material decline.

Smoothing out calendar effects by looking at Germany’s market over the past two months shows a market declining about 5.4 percent in the period.

Car sales could fall as below 12 million units annually for the next two years, a figure not seen since 1993, when 11.6 million vehicles were sold. Those predictions came from Ulrich Winzen, an analyst for R.L. Polk, who was similarly pessimistic about a recovery. “Currently there is no early indicator or other hard data pointing to an improvement in the next few months,” said Winzen.


Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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