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Thursday June 14, 8:43 PMEurope May new car sales down 1.6 pct, Fiat upMILAN, June 14 (Reuters) - Europe's new car registrations fell for the fourth month in a row in May, but Fiat beat the market and its rivals with a 5.7 percent rise in sales thanks to tax breaks in Italy, industry data showed.Registrations in Europe fell 1.6 percent as a decline in major markets in western Europe outweighed a rise in central and eastern Europe. "Fiat was boosted by still strong sales of the Grande Punto," Citigroup analyst John Lawson said in a research note. "We expect continued resilience." Sales at Volkswagen , Europe's number-one automaker by market share, fell 5.4 percent. General Motors suffered the biggest decline among the major auto makers in the region, with sales falling 8.9 percent. Renault was close behind, dropping 8.4 percent. A day earlier, it said its worldwide sales fell 4.2 percent in May ahead of the launch of a number of new and revised models.) PSA Peugeot bucked the trend with a 2.8 percent rise, while DaimlerChrysler sales rose 2.4 percent and BMW gained 5.6 percent. European sales at Ford fell 1.1 percent and Toyota Motor went down 2.6 percent. In terms of market share, the biggest changes were seen at GM, which fell to 9.7 percent from 10.5 percent. Renault slipped to 8.6 percent from 9.2 percent. Gainers included PSA, rising to 13.1 percent from 12.5 percent. Fiat went up to 8.2 percent from 7.7 percent. At 1224 GMT, Fiat and other automakers were trading slightly higher than the Dow Jones sector index , which was 1.86 percent higher. STAGNANT DEMAND Overall, new car registrations in Europe fell 1.6 percent to 1,442,518 units, according to figures published by the region's car makers association, ACEA. The figure compared with a 2 percent drop for the region reported on Wednesday by Germany's VDA car industry association. For the January-May period, registrations fell 0.5 percent, according to ACEA. ACEA's numbers cover the 27 member states of the European Union except Cyprus and Malta. They also include member countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). It attributed the decline to a 2.4 percent drop in car sales in major markets in western Europe like Germany, which offset a 11.1 percent rise in eastern Europe and elsewhere. "Car demand in western Europe is stagnant, contrasting with a general economic picture that seems to be improving," said Centro Studi Promotor, an Italian think tank. VDA has cited a rise in value-added tax in Germany as one of the factors that could lead to Europe's biggest auto market registering a record low in demand this year. Italy was the only major market to show a rise in May, up 7.3 percent thanks to government tax breaks to encourage drivers to buy new, less-polluting cars, ACEA said. Germany fell 11.1 percent, while France went down 2.8 percent and Britain slipped 2.2 percent. For the January-May period, Italy rose 6 percent and Britain rose 2.2 percent. Other major markets fared worse, with Germany tumbling 9.6 percent and France going down 2.4 percent. For full details, please double click on the following link to ACEA's Web site [http://www.acea.be/files/20070614B.pdf] |
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