Car Sales Fall Across Europe

[interestrateripoff]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/15/car-sales-fall-europe

Consumers on the continent are refusing to buy cars as scrappage schemes end and governments signal austerity budgets ahead, according to a report today.

Sales of new cars fell by 3% across Europe in May and are down more than 15% over two months, said the independent economics consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Greece, Italy, Germany and France were badly hit by falling sales, though the rest of the eurozone also suffered.

Analyst Gabriel Stein said the decline in sales confirmed that consumers were suffering from a distinct lack of confidence.

"Consumers only buy cars when they feel good about their prospects. These figures show consumer confidence is sliding," he said.

Stein warned that Europe was in danger of falling back into recession.

"The data is a clear pointer that a double-dip recession could come as early as the third quarter," he said.

Stein analysed the three-month annualised change in car sales, which he conceded was a volatile measure, but maintained was a good guide to the latest trends.

In Italy sales fell 58.5%. In Germany they were down 22.9%, France 20.3% and Greece 73.8%. Spanish car sales, where a scrappage scheme is still in place, held up, though Stein pointed out "that only means that they are back at the same level as their 2008 average".

Stein said countries with surplus savings such as Germany and Holland needed to encourage consumer spending. He said it would not only have the effect of boosting confidence and consumption in other parts of Europe, but would also increase taxes to protect government spending.

Some big falls quoted here. Clear signs of recovery, car manufacturer shares must be booming on the back of this news.

No surprise that once the scrappage schemes ended so did the sales, govts managed to bring some demand forward but it was unsustainable.

[Snafu]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jun/15/car-sales-fall-europe

Some big falls quoted here. Clear signs of recovery, car manufacturer shares must be booming on the back of this news.

No surprise that once the scrappage schemes ended so did the sales, govts managed to bring some demand forward but it was unsustainable.

I read somewhere that the car scrappage scheme was to ensure some marginal constituencies had car production were kept Labour.