(Reuters) – Car sales in France and Spain showed further signs of stabilizing last month after a prolonged recession in much of Europe pushed demand close to a two-decade low, though optimism was dampened by weak numbers from Italy.
Signs of economic recovery in even some of the worst affected countries, such as Spain, have led to a pick-up in demand in recent months.
Sales of new cars in Spain jumped 15.1 percent year on year in November, the third consecutive monthly increase, helped by government subsidies, car manufacturers’ association Anfac said on Monday.
There were 55,450 new cars registered in November, compared with 48,155 in November 2012, despite one fewer working day.
“We’re in a good position for the end of 2013 and in order to start 2014 in the best way possible. The recovery will be noticeable next year,” said Jaume Roura, head of Spanish car dealers association Faconauto.
However, Anfac said its forecast for about 720,000 new cars to be sold this year was well short of the 1.2-1.3 million it would expect for a country with Spain’s per capita income and economic development.
In France, new car registrations declined 4.4 percent year on year to 138,298 in November, after rises in October and September, the auto industry association CCFA said.
But registrations would have shown an increase of 5.7 percent if the data were adjusted for the reduction in business days compared with November 2012, the association added.
French carmakers PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP.PA) and Renault (RENA.PA) lifted sales by 4.5 percent and 3.8 percent respectively, continuing to outpace foreign competitors, whose sales dropped by 12.9 percent.
Sales in Italy, however, slipped by 4.5 percent year on year in November to 102,201 vehicles, data from the transport ministry showed.
The last time monthly sales rose year on year in Europe’s fourth-largest car market was August 2011, the ministry’s data shows. But the rate of decline has slowed, suggesting that the euro zone’s third-largest economy could be showing signs of a modest pick-up.
“The analysis of the auto and economic data suggests that the fall in car demand (in Italy) may be capped in 2014, but there won’t be a significant recovery yet,” research think-tank CSP said in a statement.
Italians are expected to buy 1.3 million vehicles this year, the country’s biggest carmaker, Fiat (FIA.MI), and industry groups have said.
Sales at Fiat, which has drastically reduced investment to ride out the crisis and pursue a buyout of 58.5 percent-owned Chrysler, fell 12.3 percent in November to 27,800 vehicles, the company said.
Its share of the Italian market dropped to 27.2 percent in November from 29.6 percent in the same month last year.
(Reporting by Leila Abboud and Gilles Guillaume in Paris, Paul Day in Madrid andAgnieszka Flak in Milan; Writing by Mark Potter; Editing by David Goodman)
Source: Reuters
