LATEST figures for new car sales across Europe for the year to date reveal a ‘slight upturn’ over the same period last year.

Figures produced by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) show total European sales reached 14,289,992 units, up 0.8% from January to November 2005.

A spokesman said: ‘Two of the main markets, namely Italy (+4.1%) and Germany (+2.6%) carried on a positive trend.

‘The UK (-3.1%), France (-2.6%) and Spain (-1.6%) were still on a downward path.

‘Except for Portugal (-5.1%), Finland (-1.8%) and Greece (-1.1%), the remaining EU15 countries performed better than during the same period last year.’

Country		Jan-Nov 06		Jan-Nov 05		Variance
Austria		290,919		290,214		+0.2%
Belgium		505,155		459,354		+10.0%
Denmark		143,379		135,373		+5.9%
Finland		139,912		142,429		-1.8%
France		1,849,801		1,898,420		-2.6%
Germany		3,164,545		3,084,361		+2.6%
Greece		255,102		257,962		-1.1%
Ireland		177,841		171,131		+3.9%
Italy		2,180,205		2,094,620		+4.1%
Luxembourg		48,323		46,123		+4.8%
Netherlands		470,k888		456,377		+3.2%
Portugal		181,134		190,900		-5.1%
Spain		1,376,332		1,399,107		-1.6%
Sweden		258,887		249,300		+3.8%
UK		2,211,054		2,282,851		-3.1%
European Union (EU15)		13,253,477		13,158,522		+0.7%
Iceland		16,511		16,935		-2.5%
Norway		98,131		99,968		-1.8%
Switzerland		245,492		243,667		+0.7%
EFTA		360,134		360,570		-0.1%
EU15+EFTA		13,613,611		13,519,092		+0.7%
Czech Republic		114,421		117,035		-2.2%
Estonia		23,561		18,088		+30.3%
Hungary		175,933		180,737		-2.7%
Latvia		22,759		14,929		+52.4%
Lithuania		13,004		9,480		+37.2%
Poland		217,523		216,842		+0.3%
Slovakia		53,045		51,345		+3.3%
Slovenia		56,135		55,636		+0.9%
EU (new members)		676,381		664,092		+1.9%
European Union		13,929,858		13,822,614		+0.8%
Total Europe (EU+EFTA)		14,289,992		14,183,184		+0.8%