Slump in new car sales in EU

New car sales in the European Union slumped 9.3 percent during May, due to the end of government cash-for-clunkers programmes and a tough economic outlook, the ACEA trade association said yesterday.

15 June 2010, 12:00am

1 min read

After a drop of 7.4 percent in April, new registrations fell to 1,129,508 cars in May, ACEA said in a statement.

"Demand for new cars in the EU declined for the second month this year in May, reflecting the end to government support schemes on the one hand and the further challenging economic situation on the other," it said.

Germany, Europe's biggest car market, saw the steepest fall, with new car sales plunging 35.1 percent. Other big European car markets also saw sharp falls with sales down 13.8 percent in Italy and off 11.5 percent in France.

However, Spain saw sales shoot up 44.6 percent in May albeit from depressed levels last year.