SALES of new cars across Europe for the first three-quarters of the year were flat, latest figures show.

Produced by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), the figures highlight that two of the main markets, namely Italy (+4%) and Germany (+1%) posted increases while sales in Spain (-2.5%), the UK (-3.5%) and France (-3.1%) were down.

A spokesman added: Except for Portugal, Greece, Finland, Austria the remaining EU15 countries performed better than during the same period last year.’

Country		Jan-Sept 06		Jan-Sept 05		Variance
Austria		242,045		244,275		-0.9%
Belgium		428,977		387,235		+10.8%
Denmark		118,191		111,131		+6.4%
Finland		119,759		121,169		-1.2%
France		1,518,367		1,566,749		-3.1%
Germany		2,544,675		2,518,564		+1.0%
Greece		216,936		220,064		-1.4%
Ireland		172,052		165,247		+4.1%
Italy		1,798,391		1,728,451		+4.0%
Luxembourg		40,570		38,855		+4.4%
Netherlands		396,966		388,254		+2.2%
Portugal		152,183		160,676		-5.3%
Spain		1,143,188		1,172,355		-2.5%
Sweden		209,820		199,789		+5.0%
UK		1,901,888		1,971,880		-3.5%
EU 15		11,004,008		10,994,694		+0.1%
Iceland		14,599		14,271		+2.3%
Norway		203,335		202,015		-1.5%
Switzerland		203,335		202,015		+0.7%
EFTA		298,648		298,190		+0.2%
EU15+EFTA		11,302		11,292,884		+0.1%
Czech Republic		92,667		96,361		-3.8%
Estonia		18,733		15,031		+24.6%
Hungary		141,282		144,675		-2.3%
Latvia		17,660		11,755		+50.2%
Lithuania		9,990		7,734		+29.2%
Poland		175,348		183,971		-4.7%
Slovakia		43,215		42,044		+2.8%
Slovenia		46,561		46,770		-0.4%
EU new members		545,456		548,341		-0.5%
European Union		11,549,464		11,543,035		+0.1%
Total Europe (EU+EFTA)		11,848,112		11,841,225		+0.1%