EUROPEAN new car sales have started off the year on a high – with January sales up by more than 2% compared to the same month the previous year. The EU-15 mainly contributed to the increase as many new EU member states and the European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) countries reported losses. The figures were collated by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), which said: ‘Three out of five main markets reported growth: Germany (+10.8%), Italy (+10.7%) and France (+2.8%). Spain (-0.3%) and the UK (-13.3%) ended the month with a loss. Among the other EU15 countries, only three reported decreases. The other seven posted positive results, with Belgium (+14.1%) leading the pack thanks to the effects of the Brussels Motor Show. ‘The EFTA loss was driven by Switzerland (-1.8%), while among new EU member states, Latvia (+58.5%), Lithuania (+55.2%), Estonia (+22.1%) and Hungary (+12.1%) reported growth, with Poland (-16.5%) still leading the list of countries which posted losses.’ The ACEA said the results, up by 2.6% for total Europe, showed an encouraging start to the year.

Country		Jan 06		Jan 05		variance
Austria		23,448		23,424		+0.1%
Belgium		58,128		50,958		+14.1%
Denmark		11,063		10,029		+10.3%
Finland		18,446		18,162		+1.6%
France		168,668		164,116		+2.8%
Germany		223,108		201,349		+10.8%
Greece		29,792		31,742		-6.1%
Ireland		43,106		38,329		+12.5%
Italy		237,409		214,439		+10.7%
Luxembourg		4,167		3,793		+9.9%
Netherlands		69,241		70,943		-2.4%
Portugal		15,635		16,524		-5.4%
Spain		104,441		104,793		-0.3%
Sweden		17,128		16,547		+3.5%
UK		157,363		181,474		-13.3%
EU15		1,181,143		1,146,622		+3.0%
Iceland		1,419		1,314		+8.0%
Norway		7,458		7,375		+1.1%
Switzerland		17,689		18,008		-1.8%
EFTA		26,566		26,697		-0.5%
EU15+EFTA		1,207,709		1,173,319		+2.9%
Czech Republic		7,821		8,942		-12.5%
Estonia		1,791		1,467		+22.1%
Hungary		11,956		10,664		+12.1%
Latvia		1,363		860		+58.5%
Lithuania		1,217		784		+55.2%
Poland		18,555		22,226		-16.5%
Slovakia		3,737		3,752		-0.4%
Slovenia		5,118		5,501		-7.0%
EU new members		51,558		54,196		-4.9%
European Union		1,232,701		1,200,818		-4.9%
Total Europe (EU+EFTA)		1,259,267		1,227,515		2.6%