NEW car sales across Europe have fallen - with a drop in March being blamed on an earlier Easter break and a sluggish economy. Figures produced by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association show that sales during March were down by more than 4% compared to the same month last year - but an earlier Easter has been blamed for the fall.
*European Fair Trade Association
Sales totalled 1,709,616 units in March this year, compared to 1,793,607 during the same month last year.
A spokesman said: 'While these figures are heavily influenced by the Easter break falling this year in the month of March, which implied at least one but up to three working days less depending on the country, they also confirm the sluggish economic environment in the first quarter of 2005.'
Cumulative figures for the year to date show a fall of 3.3% across the whole of Europe. Sales were down to 3,986,749 units from 4,121,799 during the same period the previous year.
Country | Jan-Mar 05 | Jan-Mar 04 | Variance | |||
Austria | 74,310 | 75,616 | -1.7% | |||
Belgium | 147,998 | 157,677 | -6.1% | |||
Denmark | 31,259 | 25,541 | +22.4% | |||
Finland | 42,266 | 43,038 | -1.8% | |||
France | 526,450 | 506,884 | +3.9% | |||
Germany | 750,798 | 765,266 | -1.9% | |||
Greece | 77,838 | 81,382 | -4.4% | |||
Ireland | 88,029 | 76,932 | +14.4% | |||
Italy | 638,745 | 677,402 | -5.7% | |||
Luxembourg | 13,190 | 13,933 | -5.3% | |||
Netherlands | 150,621 | 155,846 | -3.4% | |||
Portugal | 52,460 | 50,080 | +4.8% | |||
Spain | 373,694 | 374,064 | -0.1% | |||
Sweden | 59,556 | 58,887 | +1.1% | |||
UK | 701,506 | 756,005 | -7.2% | |||
European Union (EU15) | 3,728,720 | 3,818,553 | -2.4% | |||
Iceland | 3,572 | 2,426 | +47.2% | |||
Norway | 25,193 | 27,489 | -8.4% | |||
Switzerland | 56,472 | 62,922 | -10.3% | |||
EFTA* | 85,237 | 92,837 | -8.2% | |||
EU15+EFTA | 3,813,957 | 3,911,390 | -2.5% | |||
Czech Republic | 27,844 | 28,713 | -3.0% | |||
Estonia | 4,183 | 3,918 | +6.8% | |||
Hungary | 41,909 | 45,678 | -8.3% | |||
Latvia | 2,918 | 2,334 | +25.0% | |||
Lithuania | 2,384 | 2,092 | +14.0% | |||
Poland | 66,005 | 98,460 | -33.0% | |||
Slovakia | 11,613 | 11,923 | -2.6% | |||
Slovenia | 15,936 | 17,291 | -7.8% | |||
EU new members | 172,792 | 210,409 | -17.9% | |||
European Union (EU23) | 3,901,512 | 4,028,962 | -3.2% | |||
Total Europe | 3,986,749 | 4,121,79 | -3.3% | |||
*European Fair Trade Association
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