ZCZC
BCN-26
EUROPE-AUTOMOBILE-INDICATOR
European car sales stay in reverse
PARIS, April 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – European car sales fell 3.9 percent in
March compared to the same month last year, marking the seventh-straight
monthly drop, an industry body said Wednesday.
“Demand decreased in all major EU markets,” the European Automobile
Manufacturers Association said, with the biggest falls in Italy, down 9.6
percent, Spain 4.3 percent, Britain 3.4 percent and France 2.3 percent.
Germany’s Volkswagen Group, which is still trying to move past the
“dieselgate” emissions scandal, saw sales decrease 1.1 percent but it
remained Europe’s top carmaker.
French carmaker PSA (Peugeot, Citroen and Opel), the second ranked by
market share, saw sales dip 1.4 percent in March compared to 2018.
By volume, auto sales in March fell to 1.72 million from 1.79 million a
year earlier.
For the three months to March, auto sales were down 3.3 percent compared
with first quarter 2018.
The association had warned in February — when total sales fell 1.0
percent — that manufacturers could expect the car market to remain “stable
at best” in 2019, forecasting growth of “less than one percent”.
BSS/AFP/HR/1330