Gloom continues to grip car showrooms as May shows further drop in sales

WESTERN EUROPE
May car sales frost
Gloom continues to grip car showrooms as May shows further drop in sales
Published: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:54:10 GMT
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Europe’s slump-struck car market looks as far from genuine recovery as ever. Sales, which have shown promise of picking up this April, have faltered again last month, with new car sales slipping 5.7 per cent.

On the plus side, however, the market’s underlying rate of contraction shows first faint signs of slowing, but even that spirit boosting development, after closer scrutiny of May figures is flattered a great deal by yet another double-digit gain in the region’s trend-bucking British car market, where in pin-sharp contrast to all of mainland Europe, consumers are keeping up their spending habits with a 15th successive rise in new car sales.

-5.7%
Fall in May passenger car sales in Western Europe

Without Britain, where May sales rose 11 per cent to pre-crisis levels, West Europe’s May sales took a sobering 8.7 per cent tumble widening the sales shortfall after five months to close on 10 per cent...more

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DATA AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS WITH THIS ARTICLE:

EUROPEAN new CAR sales:
European new car sales by country MAY 2013 v MAY 2012
European new car sales by country 5-MONTHS 2013 v 5-MONTHS 2012

W. European new car sales by manufacturer and marque MAY 2013 v MAY 2012
W. European new car sales by manufacturer and marque 5-MTHS '13 v 5-MTHS '12

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