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%