Currently reading: European car sales tumble
Manufacturers struggle as the European car market continues to contract

European car sales so far this year have dropped by one million units compared with last year’s figures.

The slump represents a 7.1 per cent decline in the market, which puts European sales in November down 25.3 per cent on October’s figures.

Volkswagen has maintained its position as the leading car brand due to the launch of the new Scirocco and continued popularity of the Golf. But despite a 5.5 per cent increase in sales of the Golf this year, Volkswagen sales have dipped by 3.8 per cent.

Audi is the only manufacturer in the top ten sales list to show an increase this year, up by 0.2 per cent. This is due, in part, to the new A4, which not only ranks as the ninth best selling model but also has recorded a 16.6 per cent rise in European sales so far this year.

The majority of European countries’ automotive industries have declined substantially. Iceland heads the table of the worst performing nations, with car sales down 94.6 per cent in the wake of the collapse of several of its financial institutions.

Sales in Britain are down by 36.8 per cent year on year.

Finland’s economy, however, has shown remarkable resilience; sales are up 77.5 per cent year on year and 9.5 per cent on the year. Slovakia has fared even better; sales there have increased by 17.2 per cent during 2008.

George Barrow

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Steak Bake 17 December 2008

Re: European car sales tumble

The 36.8 will be month v month, the overall figure is around 15/16 - hopefully the industry will see some footfall in January with the VAT reductions as this is traditionally the 3rd biggest month in the year for some makers

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!!

Quattro369 17 December 2008

Re: European car sales tumble

Autocar wrote:
The slump represents a 7.1 per cent decline in the market

I know its all relative but that doesnt seem as bad as I expected. For all the doom and gloom we hear about i thought the figure would be alot higher. It does seem that the decline has been speeding up towards the end of the year though. If this continues then 2009 will be a record year - for the wrong reason.

Whereas: "Sales in Britain are down by 36.8 per cent year on year" seems very high indeed! Is that year-to-date figures? - or just comparing this months figures with the same month last year?