European Car Sales Fell Less in 2013

New car registrations in the European Union fell 1.7% in 2013, largely thanks to a sales slump in Italy and France.

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) said 11.8 million new cars were sold across the region, about 200,000 fewer than in the previous year.

But the decline was much less than the 8.2% fall recorded in 2012 – the sector’s worst result for 18 years.

Italy’s new car sales fell 7.1%, while France’s fell 5.7%.

Struggling French manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen continued its decline, with sales falling 8.4%. But Renault bucked the French trend, achieving a 4.4% rise in sales.

Italy’s Fiat, which recently took over US number three carmaker Chrysler, suffered a 7.1% fall.

Even Germany, the EU’s strongest economy, saw sales slide 4.2%, says the ACEA.

By contrast, the UK was buoyant, with sales rising 10.8%, boosted in particular by a strong performance from Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover.

On Monday, the luxury car maker, which has plants in the West Midlands and Merseyside, reported record sales for 2013 with 425,000 cars sold worldwide.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza