New car registrations in Western Europe dropped sharply in November after two stronger months, with Italy's struggling Fiat losing even more market share, according to data released today.
Brussels-based ACEA said Western European new car registrations fell 6.2 per cent in November from a year earlier and the latest figures brought the total number of new registrations in the year to the end of November to 13,404,316 - a 3.8 per cent decline from the corresponding period in 2001.
Fiat group's European sales slumped 21.7 per cent in November and its market share dropped to 7.7 percent from 9.3 per cent a year ago.
The company, battling to stop heavy losses at its auto business and slash its debt amid a power struggle between Italian political and business interests, has failed to impress customers with its mid-sized Stilo, which hit the market late last year.
"These figures show how difficult it will be for Fiat to get its car sales going again," said one German-based analyst.
Japanese carmakers, including Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi, notched up some of the few gains to be had in Europe in November.
Overall, Japanese carmakers' share of the European market rose to 11.4 per cent in November from 9.5 per cent a year ago.
Their performance reflects to some extent their success in the world's biggest car market, the US, where they have swallowed market share previously belonging to the "Big Three" carmakers there, General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and the Chrysler arm of DaimlerChrysler.
Car sales in Europe have been hit this year by weak macroeconomic conditions and subdued consumer sentiment and November's drop offers little hope for a pick-up early next year.
Carmakers such as France's PSA Peugeot Citroen, which have come up with attractive new models, have gained market share at the expense of those with older line-ups such as Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen.
In the year so far, PSA has a 15.1 per cent slice of the market, up from 14.4 per cent a year ago while VW is down at 18.4 per cent, down from 18.9 per cent a year ago.