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In new recovery sign, EU car sales surge

18 November 2014, 15:53 CET
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(PARIS) - The EU car market saw a 6.5 percent surge in new registrations in October, boosted by sales booms in Spain and Italy where the industry was hit hard by the financial crisis.

Overall, 1.07 million new vehicles were registered in the European Union in October compared with one million units in October 2013, industry figures showed Tuesday.

Figures for France on the key indicator of economic health were the notable exception, showing a 3.8 percent drop in registrations over October 2013 -- though Renault saw a 10.5 percent increase.

The overall market has seen 14 consecutive months of growth, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said.

Over the first 10 months of the year the increase in new vehicle registrations was 6.1 percent.

But the industry has yet to recover to levels seen before the crisis of 2008-13: more than 1.2 million new vehicles went into circulation in October 2007.

- 'Low-end brands selling well' -

"At the start of the year, automobile company chiefs were talking about the European market growing three or four percent; it's going to be more like five to six percent," said Jean-Francois Belorgey of the EY consultancy.

"The low-end brands are selling well -- that's probably directly linked to the crisis. When people change cars they are going mainly for cars with good value for money," he added.

Spain, whose car market collapsed during the crisis and where cash-for-clunkers subsidies have encouraged purchases, registrations shot up 26.1 percent to 76,000 units last month.

Italy, whose car market was also depressed, saw a surge of 9.2 percent on the same comparison, with 121,000 new cars hitting the road.

Britain, the EU's second largest car market, also saw healthy sales, shooting up 14.2 percent with 179,700 new vehicles.

Top auto market Germany had 3.7 percent more registrations with 279,000 units sold.

Volkswagen solidified its leadership position with 277,000 units sold across the EU, for an increase of 6.9 percent, thanks mainly to a 20 percent jump in sales of SEAT cars and a 7.9 percent hike in Audi purchases.

Volkswagen has commanded more than a quarter of the EU car market since the start of the year.

In Renault's stable, Dacia posted a 25.1 percent surge over October 2013, while sales by its Japanese partner Nissan rose 21.3 percent.

General Motors had mixed fortunes, with Opel rocketing up 12 percent while the phasing out of Chevrolet in Europe pulled GM's overall performance down 5.1 percent.

As a result, the BMW group was only a few units behind GM, with sales up 9.4 percent.

For Daimler, with the Smart car being overhauled its sales plummeted by 52.1 percent while Mercedes was up 8.7 percent, for an overall 2.2 percent gain.

Fiat Chrysler saw an 8.4 percent rise in new registrations thanks mainly to the Jeep brand which nearly doubled its sales in October, up 79.1 percent.

 


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