European new car registrations fell 18.3 per cent in February, industry association ACEA said today, as the industry downturn accelerated in new member states, but sales incentives in Germany bolstered Western Europe.
Amid a global slump in demand for new cars, that has left some automakers fighting for survival, and forced production cuts and job losses, a total of 968,159 new passenger cars were registered in Europe, which includes the 27 member states, plus the European Free Trade Association countries, European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said.
In a month with on average one less working day than February 2008 across the region, Western European car registrations fell 17.3 per cent, while new member states saw a 30.3 per cent drop.
The German market boosted Western Europe's tally, with "strong demand in certain market segments following the recent motor vehicle tax reform and scrapping bonus introduced by the German government".
German registrations soared 21.5 per cent in February, but the only other market in Western Europe to show growth was Luxembourg -- up 0.3 per cent.
Iceland fared the worst, with a drop of 91.2 per cent, while France -- also cushioned by scrapping incentives -- declined the least, with a 13.2 per cent fall.
Crisis-hit Spain was down 48.8 per cent, while Italian registrations dropped 24.4 per cent and the UK posted a 21.9 per cent decrease.
Among new member states, Poland registered a 7.3 per cent increase on February last year, with 30,194 new cars registered, while Hungary's registrations dropped 46.4 percent and Romania plunged 66.5 per cent.
Across Europe in February, Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen posted a 10.2 per cent drop in new passenger car registrations for the group, while its Spanish Seat brand saw a 31.2 per cent fall, and the Volkswagen brand declined by 6.2 per cent.
Within Daimler, the Mercedes premium brand posted a 34.2 per cent plunge, while Smart car registrations edged up 0.6 per cent compared with February 2008, leaving the group as a whole down 29.8 per cent.
The PSA Peugeot Citroen group saw new registrations fall by 25.3 per cent, while fellow French manufacturer Renault was down 23.1 per cent.
Italy's Fiat posted a 16.5 per cent group-wide decline.
Struggling US manufacturer General Motors, whose European brands including Sweden's Saab and Germany's Opel are fighting for survival, posted a 21.9 per cent drop in February registrations.
Japan's Nissan recorded a 25.5 per cent drop in February.
Reuters