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Europe's February Sales Down 18 Percent

The decline in new car sales continued in February in most of Europe, as expected, but government intervention in several countries helped cushion the blow and stopped the decline at 18 percent, compared to the same month in 2008.

The overall bad performance of the automotive industry seems to fade when taking a look at the German market. One of Europe's biggest auto markets, still under the effects of the 2,500 euros incentive, registered a 21.5 percent boost in car sales, AP reported.

A similar program in France helped soften the decline by 13 percent. Strangely enough, French manufacturers, as well as German premium car builders saw the worse decline in sales. PSA, the second biggest European auto company, posted a 23 percent drop in sales, while Daimler and BMW topped that figure with a 29 percent fall each.

Italy and Britain maintained the trend, the first registering 22 percent decrease, while the second losing 24 percent to the crisis. The worst decline came in February from Spain, whose sales dropped by nearly half - 49 percent.

From the manufacturers' point of view, none of the brands based or present in Europe performed well. Volkswagen was the only manufacturer whose decline wasn't as steep as the other's.

General Motors, who is yet to find a solution for struggling Opel and Saab, saw an almost 22 percent drop in sales, while Ford sold 13 percent less vehicles in Europe than it did in February 2008.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association warned, through the voice of its chief, Carlos Goshn, that the total number of car sales, could fall by up to 25 percent in 2009, if government measures are not taken. He called for some 40 billion euros in aid for the suppliers and manufacturers.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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