European car sales drop on record low demand

FRANKFURT - The Associated Press

European car sales have dropped by 5.2 percent to 7.84 million in the first eight months of this year, despite the strengthening recovery hopes for the bloc. AFP photo

European Union car sales are still sagging despite the return of modest economic growth.

For the first eight months of the year, passenger car sales were off 5.2 percent to 7.84 million compared with the same period last year, the European Auto Manufacturers’ Association said today. That’s the lowest January-August figure since the group started keeping track in 1990.

New car registrations in August fell 5 percent from a year ago to 653,872, the association said.

The economy in the 28-country EU grew 0.4 percent in the second quarter, ending a recession. But the unemployment rate remains high at 11.0 percent, making many consumers unable or afraid to buy a new car. Countries hit by the eurozone debt crisis, such as Greece and Spain, face even higher jobless rates that have hurt sales of moderately priced vehicles especially hard. Luxury carmakers are doing better.

Spain face biggest drop

The August downturn was distributed across Europe’s biggest markets. Germany saw a 5.5 percent drop, despite a stronger economy than in other members of the 17-county eurozone. Registrations fell 10.5 percent in France, 18.3 percent in Spain, and 6.6 percent in Italy.

Britain’s was the only major market to expand, rising 10.5 percent.

Among the major carmakers, Germany’s Volkswagen Group was off 11.2 percent in August while France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen slipped 17.3 percent. Renault Group rose 6.0 percent and General Motors was up 0.5 percent - as a large jump in sales of Chevrolet-branded vehicles made up for a 3.4 percent fall in sales of its main European Opel and Vauxhall brands. Ford was off 1.5 percent.

Luxury brands did better. Daimler’s Mercedes was up 8.9 percent, excluding its compact Smart city car, and BMW AG rose 9.5 percent, excluding its Mini brand. However, VW’s Audi luxury brand, a chief competitor for Mercedes and BMW, was off 5.6 percent.

The biggest market share over the first eight months remained with Volkswagen Group, including the company’s other brands such as Audi, Seat and Skoda, with 24.9 percent, up slightly from 24.8 percent.

Global auto executives expressed caution about the future in interviews at the Frankfurt Auto Show
last week. They said the European market may have reached the bottom but do not see any significant increase in demand this year.

The European market contrasts with a rebound in the United States, where figures show that sales are on track to reach 16 million vehicles a year - the level from before the recession. European annual sales were 15.6 million in 2007 but are heading for just under 12 million for all of this year.

The auto association also issued figures for July, which showed a 5 percent increase over the previous year. July had one more working day than the previous July, while August had one less. In July, the only major market to shrink was Italy, which was down 1.6 percent. The association releases figures for July and August together.

The figures excluded Croatia, which only joined the EU on July 1.

Eurozone trade surplus widens in July on exports revival

Mahrec Bilgisi

The eurozone’s trade surplus widened in July thanks to a revival in exports, another sign that sales to the rest of the world are proving to be central to the bloc’s recovery.

The seasonally unadjusted surplus of 17 countries sharing the euro widened to 18.2 billion euros ($24.30 billion) from 13.9 billion euro surplus in July last year, the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said today.

Exports rose by 3 percent, year on year, following a 3 percent drop in June compared to the same month a year ago. Imports were flat in July after a 6 percent decrease in June, suggesting that European household demand may be picking up.

The bloc’s 9.5 trillion euro economy saw exports to non-euro zone Britain, as well as Russia and Turkey, rising in July, although both exports and imports to and from the United States and China declined.

Exports from Germany also surprised with a fall in July and underscored that domestic spending is key for growth in Europe’s largest economy this year, highlighting the risks of a bumpy recovery ahead.