West European Car Sales Up 5.2 percent in August

09/16/96

Reuters reports that year-on-year car sales in Western Europe rose 5.2 percent in August to 1,157,200 units. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported the August rise, which follows July's 16.2 percent jump, on Thursday. Year-to-date new car registrations increased by 6.2 percent to 9,083,400.

ACEA spokesman James Rosenstein indicated that the upward trend Western Europe was currently seeing in new car registration and sales was concentrated in a couple of markets. France showed the strongest growth of all national markets with a rise of 28.6 percent in August, occasioned by the phase-out of a state rebate scheme for new cars, which expires in September. Germany saw a 5.2 percent increase, driven by replacement demand and the introduction of new models. Sales in Britain (up 2.2 percent) and Italy (down 7.5 percent) have not done so well.

Although ACEA expects a slide in sales as the year closes, growth for the year will probably come in closer to 4 percent than to the 3 percent forecast originally issued. 4 percent is below the increase in sales Western Europe experienced between January and August.

Western European car sales dropped 16 percent in 1993 and remained virtually flat last year. According to Rosenstein, the market is still depressed, although "the present trend is moderate growth."

The August report from ACEA shows most European carmakers gaining market share, while U.S. carmakers lose it. The Ford group, including Jaguar, saw a 4.2 percent reduction in sales to 155,266 cars, leaving it with 13.4 percent of the market. Despite the drop, Ford's slice of the market is still the second largest, following German carmaker Volkswagen at 15.1 percent of the market (up from 14.2 percent last year). Volkswagen saw a 12.5 percent increase in new car registrations to 175,200 cars.

Sales for General Motors, including Opel and Saab, dropped 1.9 percent, while its market share fell from 12.7 to 11.9 percent. French carmakers, on the other hand, all saw rises in new car registrations: PSA Peugeot Citroen's figures jumped 8.5 percent, and Renault's numbers rose 14.0 percent. Both companies increased their percentage of market share.

The Fiat and BMW groups also showed better figures, although Swedish car maker Volvo saw a year-on-year decline of 3.7 percent to 15,220 cars.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel