LATEST new car sales figures for Europe have dropped slightly, suggesting the market has become flat. Figures for September show a drop of 0.6% compared to the same month last year.

A spokesman for the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, which produced the figures, said: 'This margin drop points to a flat market, in an economic context that remains uncertain in a number of countries.'

But for the first nine months of the year as a whole, figures show an increase of 1.5%. On September's figures, the spokesman added: 'Spain (+6.2%) was the only market among the top five to show an increase, while the four others posted negative results, as well as Belgium, Finland and the Netherlands.

'Eight countries posted increases between 31% in Denmark and 2.6% in Ireland. Culmulative figures show increases in 10 countries, ranging from +23.9% in Denmark and +0.3% in the United Kingdom.'

Country		Jan-Sep 04		Jan-Sep 03		variance
Austria		243,929		235,701		+3.5%
Belgium		387,599		360,189		+7.6%
Denmark		87,225		70,372		+23.9%
Finland		115,449		117,102		-1.4%
France		1,496,389		1,514,912		-1.2%
Germany		2,419,143		2,479,624		-2.4%
Greece		233,675		201,129		+16.2%
Italy		1,760,251		1,744,278		+0.9%
Luxembourg		38,206		34,829		+9.7%
Netherlands		397,174		407,273		-2.5%
Portugal		150,747		145,130		+3.9%
Spain		1,144,009		1,025,326		+11.6%
Sweden		192,495		195,075		-1.3%
UK		2,079,956		2,072,950		+0.3%
European Union		10,893,590		10,741,655		+1.4%
Iceland		9,355		7,880		+18.7%

Norway		82,783		66,541		+24.4%
Switzerland		206,195		207,008		-0.4%
New entrants
Czech Republic		99,238		112,998		-12.2%
Estonia		12,692		11,746		+8.1%
Hungary		151,428		152,868		-0.9%
Latvia		8,086		6,300		+28.3%
Lithuania		6,654		5,340		+24.6%
Poland		255,655		254,492		+0.5%
Slovakia		41,112		39,860		+3.1%
Slovenia		49,102		45,914		+6.9%
European Union		11,517,557		11,371,173		1.3%
Total Europe		11,815,890		11,652,602		1.4%