NEW car registration across Europe have experienced mixed fortunes during the first 10 months of the year.

A total of nine countries posted increases, ranging from 0.1% in Italy to 24.5% in Denmark, while six noted falling car sales, ranging between 0.2% in the UK and –2.7% in Finland.

Produced by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), sales figures for the month of October show a fall of 3.5%, to 1,136,930 units, compared to the same month the previous year.

A spokesman said: ‘The drop points to a still hesitant economic situation reinforced by calendar effects.’

This includes the fact that October this year had less working days than the month did last year.

Country		Jan-Oct 04		Jan-Oct 03		Variance
Austria		268,621		262,113		+2.5%
Belgium		426,467		402,480		+6.0%
Denmark		97,591		78,399		+24.5%
Finland		126,606		130,112		-2.7%
France		1,666,0131		699,555		-2.0%
Germany		2,700,3172		748,748		-1.8%
Greece		253,781		224,628		+13.0%
Ireland		151,719		142,664		+6.3%
Italy		1,935,4491		934,419		+0.1%
Luxembourg		42,224		38,586		+9.4%
Netherlands		436,543		445,405		-2.0%
Portugal		165,274		158,958		+4.0%
Spain		1,262,7911		146,145		+10.2%
Sweden		215,147		219,964		-2.2%
Country		Jan-Oct 04		Jan-Oct 03		Variance
UK		2,250,8222		254,539		-0.2%
EU15		11,999,365		11,886,715		+0.9%
Iceland		10,160		8,684		+17.0%
Norway		92,814		75,613		+22.7%
Switzerland		226,837		229,744		-1.3%
Czech Republic		110,502		126,007		-12.3%
Estonia		14,040		13,232		+6.1%
Hungary		171,853		171,710		+0.1%
Latvia		9,062		7,132		+27.1%
Lithuania		7,673		6,104		+25.7%
Poland		275,426		286,243		-3.8%
Slovakia		45,880		45,684		+0.4%
Slovenia		53,607		50,377		+6.4%
Total Europe		13,017,219		12,907,245		+0.9%