European car sales rise: industry group
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sales of new cars in Europe rose by 3.2 percent in February on a 12-month comparison but fell 29.8 percent in Germany after its cash-for-clunkers scheme ran out, industry data showed on Tuesday.
The figures showed wide regional variation, with the plunge in Germany offset by rises in Britain (26.4 percent), France (18.2 percent), Italy (20.6 percent) and Spain (47 percent), mainly thanks to government stimulus plans.
A total of 1,000,754 new passenger cars were registered in the 28 European countries monitored by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, the Brussels-based manufacturers' group that compiled the preliminary data.
Eastern Europe was badly hit, with Bulgaria at -44.5 percent, Estonia at -47.7 percent, Hungary at -57.9 percent, Latvia at -40.2 percent, Lithuania at -17.3 percent, Poland at -19.2 percent and Romania at -63.0 percent.
Car sales rose only in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia.
French car maker Renault was the company with the biggest rise in sales at 30 percent, followed by France's PSA Peugeot Citroen at 18.4 percent.
Europe's largest car firm, Volkswagen of Germany, saw sales dip 1.7 percent.
pm/dt/ss
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments