Currently reading: Car sales down in Europe
Car sales in France, Spain and Italy drop as incentives are phased out

Car sales fell in France, Spain and Italy during August after government subsidies to car buyers were phased out or ended.

In France, sales were down 9.8 per cent – which came as their scrappage scheme was phased out.In Spain, volume fell 23.8 per cent to 44,578 in August compared to a year earlier, according to car makers association ANFAC.

Italian car sales dropped 19 per cent to 63,000 last month, according to Italy’s dealer association Federauto.

A French consumer credit representative said car sales will continue to show year-on-year falls in France in the coming months.

Sales figures compare to very strong months in late 2009, when consumers flocked to take advantage of the €1000 bonus before it was reduced.

Federauto president Filippo Pavan Bernacchi said Italian dealers would have to cut about 15,000 of their current 178,000 jobs to survive in the declining market.

In Spain, government subsidies to help people buy new cars ran out at the start of July, at the same time as a jump in their value-added tax was introduced.

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catnip 6 September 2010

Re: Car sales down in Europe

LP in Brighton wrote:

It might be more accurate to report that sales have returned to normal following the artificial high created by scrappage,

+1

A similar story has today been reported in the UK. Obviously people will be put off spending a load of cash when times are hard, that's just normal market forces at work. The last thing we want, though, is to return to the situation of a few years ago where people were being encouraged to take out unaffordable debt to buy these new motors. (No doubt bodies like the SMMT would disagree with this...)

I wonder, though, if some car companies have gone too much the other way, with some amazingly long delivery delays being quoted.

sierra 6 September 2010

Re: Car sales down in Europe

Can confirm desperate times in Spain - car dealers are now opening showrooms on Saturdays. Couple of years back it was strictly 5-day trading.

Mr£4worth 6 September 2010

Re: Car sales down in Europe

Autocar wrote:
Car sales fell in France, Spain and Italy during August after government subsidies to car buyers were phased out or ended.

In France, sales were down 9.8 per cent – which came as their scrappage scheme was phased out.

In Spain, volume fell 23.8 per cent to 44,578 in August compared to a year earlier, according to car makers association ANFAC.

Italian car sales dropped 19 per cent to 63,000 last month, according to Italy’s dealer association Federauto.

A French cons...Read the full article

The truth is politicians the world over haven't got a clue, and simply took a "quick fix" solution to a problem, with inevitable "dip on sales" following on. If Governments stopped hammering the automotive industry, recognized the need for manufacturing (like the Koreans do) we'd be in a stronger position. If I were Cameron I'd give Ron Dennis a call, maybe Gordon Murray and the bright designer from Morgan and see if as a team they could formulate a "British Brand" or "Brand Strategy" so that we could get back to having a viable British industry once again. Stephen