Faster fall in Europe's auto market as price cuts fail to attract buyers
Source: Bloomberg News |
March 20, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EUROPE'S car-market contraction accelerated in February as price cuts by Fiat SpA, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Renault SA failed to attract drivers amid a recession in the region and a political stalemate in Italy.
Registrations fell 10 percent to 829,359 vehicles last month from 923,553 a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA, said yesterday in a statement. Two-month sales fell 9.3 percent to 1.75 million cars. The decline in January amounted to 8.5 percent.
Rising unemployment as a recession deepens in the 17 countries using the euro has deterred consumers from making large purchases. The decline in demand was exacerbated in Italy by an inconclusive parliamentary election that has frozen economic policymaking in the country. A sales drop in Germany, Europe's biggest car market, accelerated in February, even as Fiat, Renault and the Peugeot and Citroen brands led discounting in the country.
"Economic and political uncertainties, combined with different carbon dioxide-based vehicle taxation policies across Europe result in a very mixed picture for the car market," Allan Rushforth, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor Co's European business, said in a statement.
The ACEA reports figures for the 27-nation European Union plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. Deliveries in western Europe, which excludes countries that have joined the EU since mid-2004, plunged 10 percent to 774,415 vehicles in February.
Four of Europe's five biggest automotive markets shrank last month, with the steepest plunge in Italy at 17 percent. Deliveries in Germany fell 11 percent, compared with an 8.6 percent loss in January. The UK market added 7.9 percent to 66,749 cars in February.
European sales by Paris-based Peugeot, the region's second-biggest carmaker, fell 13 percent in February. Registrations at Renault, based in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, shed 8.6 percent. Turin, Italy-based Fiat posted a 16 percent drop in European sales.
Demand for cars in Europe is set to fall for a sixth straight year in 2013, according to IHS Automotive research company. Full-year sales declined to a 17-year low in 2012.
Dealers in Germany reduced car prices by an average 11.7 percent last month, versus 11.5 percent a year earlier, with discounting at Fiat widening to 16.5 percent of the list price from 12.7 percent, according to Autohaus PulsSchlag trade magazine. Peugeot, Citroen and Renault's combined average price cut in Germany was 13.5 percent in February, it said.
Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn is among industry leaders saying governments may need to consider reviving incentives to encourage trade-ins of older cars for newer vehicles.
Registrations fell 10 percent to 829,359 vehicles last month from 923,553 a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, or ACEA, said yesterday in a statement. Two-month sales fell 9.3 percent to 1.75 million cars. The decline in January amounted to 8.5 percent.
Rising unemployment as a recession deepens in the 17 countries using the euro has deterred consumers from making large purchases. The decline in demand was exacerbated in Italy by an inconclusive parliamentary election that has frozen economic policymaking in the country. A sales drop in Germany, Europe's biggest car market, accelerated in February, even as Fiat, Renault and the Peugeot and Citroen brands led discounting in the country.
"Economic and political uncertainties, combined with different carbon dioxide-based vehicle taxation policies across Europe result in a very mixed picture for the car market," Allan Rushforth, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor Co's European business, said in a statement.
The ACEA reports figures for the 27-nation European Union plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. Deliveries in western Europe, which excludes countries that have joined the EU since mid-2004, plunged 10 percent to 774,415 vehicles in February.
Four of Europe's five biggest automotive markets shrank last month, with the steepest plunge in Italy at 17 percent. Deliveries in Germany fell 11 percent, compared with an 8.6 percent loss in January. The UK market added 7.9 percent to 66,749 cars in February.
European sales by Paris-based Peugeot, the region's second-biggest carmaker, fell 13 percent in February. Registrations at Renault, based in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, shed 8.6 percent. Turin, Italy-based Fiat posted a 16 percent drop in European sales.
Demand for cars in Europe is set to fall for a sixth straight year in 2013, according to IHS Automotive research company. Full-year sales declined to a 17-year low in 2012.
Dealers in Germany reduced car prices by an average 11.7 percent last month, versus 11.5 percent a year earlier, with discounting at Fiat widening to 16.5 percent of the list price from 12.7 percent, according to Autohaus PulsSchlag trade magazine. Peugeot, Citroen and Renault's combined average price cut in Germany was 13.5 percent in February, it said.
Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn is among industry leaders saying governments may need to consider reviving incentives to encourage trade-ins of older cars for newer vehicles.
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