European car sales slumped in 2011 for fourth consecutive year

Jan 17, 2012, 10:22 GMT

Brussels - European car sales slumped in 2011 for the fourth year in a row, with new registrations down 1.7 per cent in the European Union amid an enduring debt crisis, data released on Tuesday showed.

In December alone, demand for new cars was down 6.4 per cent, compared the same period last year, with 953,108 cars registered, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. In all of 2011, a total of 13.1 million new cars were registered.

Germany remained the largest market in 2011, bucking the trend by recording an 8.8 per cent rise in car sales. In December alone, they were up 6.1 per cent as compared to the same month last year - with Germany thus becoming the only major market to post growth.

France and Britain had the second and third-largest markets in 2011, but they saw their car sales drop by 2.1 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively - with France recording the most significant fall among the large markets in December, at 17.7 per cent.

The biggest declines over the 12 months of 2011 were recorded in Portugal and Greece, which both posted falls of 31 per cent. In December, crisis-battered Portugal also saw the most significant slump in the EU, with registrations declining by a hefty 60 per cent.