Demand for new vehicles has fallen sharply across the European Union in May, reflecting a downturn of buyer confidence in the wake of the current economic crisis.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said the number of new car registrations have dropped by 8.7% to 1,106,845 vehicles in total during the month of May.
The biggest crash was France who went into a 16.2% decline, followed closely by Italy, which had a 14.3% fall.
The UK were the only survivors, growing 7.9% in the same time.
Total sales across the entire European Union over five-months fell to 5,442,326 vehicles, down 7.7%.
France even suffered a 18.1% reduction in Peugeot and Citroen cars, falling 18.1% (72,114) and 21.1% (60,447) respectively.
Germany meanwhile fell 4.8% – including a 7.8% drop in Volkswagen (142,628) and a 3.7% drop in BMW (56,883) – despite an overall rise of 0.3% in the first five months of the year.
Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat, is calling for the €500m (£406m) European capital investment to be reduced following the disappointing figures.
Jaguar Land Rover sales, however, are up 34.5%, showing that the UK car market is the strongest currently in Europe.
