NEW car sales in Europe for the month of January show a small drop compared to the same month the previous year.

The fall has mainly been blamed on new EU entrants where sales have fallen.

A spokesman at the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) said: 'The relatively slow start of the year has been mainly driven by the drop posted by new EU member states (-12.7%) and by European Fair Trade Association countries (-4%). The number of working days was basically the same with respect to January 2004, with the exceptions of Belgium, Ireland and the UK (-1), as well as Slovenia (+1).' He added: 'Figures for the first month of 2005 show a contrasting picture. Among the five main markets, the UK, Germany and Italy reported losses, while France and Spain posted increases.' A total of 13 EU countries out of the 23 listed posted increases while the other 10 posted decreases.

Country Jan 05 Jan 04 Variance
Austria 23,424 23,929 -2.1%
Belgium 50,958 47,012 +8.4%
Denmark 9,542 7,643 +24.8%
Finland 18,162 18,375 -1.2%
France 164,192 154,193 +6.5%
Germany 200,419 208,212 -3.7%
Greece 31,742 32,006 -0.8%
Ireland 38,601 32,687 +18.1%
Italy 212,568 220,724 -3.7%
Luxembourg 3,794 3,392 +11.9%
Netherlands 70,941 69,896 +1.5%
Portugal 16,325 14,413 +13.3%
Spain 104,874 98,871 +6.1%
Sweden 16,547 16,019 +3.3%
UK 181,474 197,591 -8.2%
European Union 1,143,563 1,44,963 -0.1%
Iceland 1,315 730 +80.1%
Norway 7,375 8,202 -10.1%
Switzerland 17,563 18,422 -4.7%
Czech Republic 7,779 8,356 -6.9%
Estonia 1,352 1,378 -1.9%
Hungary 10,470 12,053 -13.1%
Latvia 860 734 +17.2%
Lithuania 781 744 +5%
Poland 22,253 29,148 -23.75
Slovakia 3,752 2,983 +25.8%
Slovenia 5,501 5,031 +9.3%
EU new members 52,748 60,427 -12.7%
European Union 1,196,311 1,205,390 -0.8%
Total Europe 1,222,564 1,232,744 -0.8%