The global economy has had its ups and downs, with the latest large market expected to take a dip being Europe. The decrease in confidence and spending has severely affected sales in France, which is Europe’s second largest car market.
During the last month of the year, only 187,653 new car registrations were recorded, representing a drop of 17.8 percent compared to December 2010. But in fact the three major automakers there were even harder hit, as Peugeot sales dropped by 35 percent, Renault lost 29 percent, and Citroen dipped 21.2 percent. Italy’s Fiat brand only lost 14 percent, and Volkswagen managed to increase its sales by 21 percent.
A huge sales decrease makes for good headlines, but the loss is not as bad as it might first seem. The French government incentive trade-in plan ended December 31st, 2010, so you could say that last year’s results were unnaturally high for the period.
Source: Automotive News Europe
A huge sales decrease makes for good headlines, but the loss is not as bad as it might first seem. The French government incentive trade-in plan ended December 31st, 2010, so you could say that last year’s results were unnaturally high for the period.
Source: Automotive News Europe