Europe's car sales down 10.2% in March

A total of 1.3m vehicles were sold during the month according to figures released on Wednesday (17 April) by the European Automobile Manufacturer's Association (ACEA).

Almost all car manufacturers suffered declines, with the exception of two high-end brands, Jaguar, which increased its sales by a whopping 21.2% and Mercedes, which had a tiny gain of 0.6%, the association said.

The biggest drop was that of the French group PSA Peugeot Citroen, which sold 16.0% fewer vehicles, and US giant General Motors, which was off by 12.8%.

Renault sales were 9.6% lower, but were spared a heavier drop owing to its Romanian subsidiary Dacia, which reported a jump of 20.2%.

The Korean manufacturer Kia also posted a gain, turning in a rise of 3.7% while compatriot Hyundai fell by 9.5%.

A breakdown by country showed that the British market held up better then the rest, posting an increase of 5.9% for the year and 7.4% in the first quarter.

The biggest decline in March was in Germany, Europe's biggest car market, which was down by 17.1%, followed by France, which was down by 16.2%.

For the first quarter of 2013, new car registrations across the 27-member European Union fell by 9.8%, to 2.989m vehicles.

Vehicle sales in Europe have been in a constant decline for the past 18 months and last year, with just 12m vehicles sold were at their lowest level since 1995.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge