The Old Country Reports Worst Car Sales In 15 Years
Europe’s industry association ACEA finally got around to counting 2008 car sales, and there are good news and bad news. The good news is that the news from Europe aren’t half as bad as the news from the U.S. The bad news is that European new passenger car sales fell 7.8 percent in 2008, their sharpest fall for 15 years, Reuters reports.
Like in America, the sharpest drops occurred in the last quarter of 2008, with a 19.3 percent fall in new passenger car registrations compared with the year earlier period. In December car sales fell 17.8 percent year on year across the European region (which includes the 27 EU member states as well as the European Free Trade Association countries, but excludes Cyprus and Malta.) December was the second worst month of the year for the region, as after a 25.8 percent year-on-year fall recorded in November. Like in the U.S. the Q4 numbers don’t augur well for a happy 2009.
Volkswagen posted a 4.4 percent decline in full year sales, Ford 5.2 percent, Renault a 6.9 percent drop, PSA Peugeot Citroen a fall of 9.1 percent and Fiat a drop of 5.5 percent. The bad boys were General Motors (Opel, Vauxhall etc.) with a 13.9 percent fall and Chrysler which was down 22.5 percent. Japan’s Nissan Motor Co was a rare gainer, posting sales 8.8 percent higher year-on-year.
14.7m passenger cars were sold in Europe in 2008, which would place Europe clearly in the top position as a car market – if Europe would be counted as such. Most of Europe has a common currency and common borders, but as cars go, each country is counted separately.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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It is a bloody bath. The picture get gloomier when individual markets are analyzed (Spain over -50%). Most EU car factories have been closed for a month and some might not re-open until until mid year. Full statistics here http://www.acea.be/index.php/news/news_detail/new_vehicle_registrations_by_country/
Nissan UK is shedding 25% of it's labour (and the plant is regarded as one of the best in Europe), and yesterday, Honda extended it's shutdown from 2 months (Mar/Apr) for a further 2 months to restart in June.