January’s European car sales fell slightly year-on-year, dropping 0.3%, according to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

A total of 1,308,761 cars were registered in the first month of 2008, compared to 1,312,131 in 2007.

The market dropped in the established western European countries, although in new EU member states sales were up 20.1%.

Of the five major markets, only Germany registered more cars than last year, up 10.5%.

Registrations in Britain dropped by 2.1%, France by 5.6%, Italy by 7.3% and Spain by 12.7%. The fall is attributed to the global credit crunch.

European Sales Trends
European January ‘08 January ‘07 Variance
Austria 21,884 22,430 -2.4%
Belgium 56,846 55,832 +1.8%
Denmark 13,211 11,697 +12.9%
Finland 21,519 16,893 +27.4%
France 162,116 171,651 -5.6%
Germany 220,742 199,686 +10.5%
Greece 33,583 31,694 +6.0%
Ireland 47,609 45,819

+3.9%
Italy 232,207 250,385 -7.3%
Luxembourg 3,981 3,908 +1.9%
Portugal 15,818 14,463 +9.4%
Spain 101,630 116,423 -12.7%
Sweden 17,033 20,599 -17.3%
The Netherlands 66,379 68,663 -3.3%
United Kingdom 162,097 165,603 -2.1%
Total 1,176,655 1,195,746 -1.6%

European Free Trade Agreement
Iceland 1,432 968 +47.9%
Norway 9,901 12,685 -21.9%
Switzerland 19,322 18,292 +5.6%
Total 30,655 31,945 -4.0%

EU new members
Bulgaria 3,326 3,067 +8.4%
Czech Republic            10,082 9,147 +10.2%
Estonia 2,464 2,617 -5.8%
Hungary 12,343 12,339 +0.0%
Latvia 2,191 2,662 -17.7%
Lithuania 2,273 1,465 +55.2%
Poland 28,367 22,770 +24.6%
Romania 29,495 21,931 +24.5%
Slovakia 4,783 3,501 +36.6%
Slovenia 6,128 4,941 +24.0%
Total 101,452 84,440 +20.1%
Europe total (EU+EFTA) 1,308,761 1,312,131 -0.3%