European Car Market Up 2.4% In June As Incentives Fuel Demand
15 July 2009 - 4:36PM
Dow Jones News
European new-car registrations in June rose 2.4% year-on-year,
the first market increase in 14 months, as government-backed
scrapping incentives fueled demand in more than 10 countries.
New-car registrations in Europe last month climbed to 1.46
million vehicles, the European Automobile Manufacturers
Association, or ACEA, said Wednesday.
In the first half of the year, registrations in Europe, a key
source of earnings for global automakers, dropped 11% from the same
period last year to 7.43 million vehicles.
Registrations in Western Europe were up 4.6% at 1.38 million in
June and fell 9.8% on the year in the January-to-June period to
6.98 million passenger cars.
Despite the scrapping incentives, General Motors Corp.'s (GMGMQ)
troubled European division in June posted an 8.4% fall in new-car
registrations to 133,373 vehicles as a 16% rise at its Chevrolet
brand failed to offset a 8.9% decline at its core Opel/Vauxhall
brand.
GM currently is discussing several offers to sell a majority
stake in Opel and Vauxhall.
Fiat SpA (F.MI) posted a 11.7% rise year-on-year to 125,640
vehicle, making it the best-performing automaker in Europe as the
scrapping incentives fostered demand for its small cars.
New-car registrations at Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE), Europe's
largest automaker by sales, were up 9.5% on the year in June at
312,302 vehicles, driven by its core VW brand.
Company Web site: www.acea.be
-By Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29 725 512;
christoph.rauwald@dowjones.com