Europe’s May New-Car Sales Affirm Ongoing Downturn

New-vehicle sales in Europe appear to have set into the downward spiraling path that was feared because of the real and potential debt crises in several countries dampening the region’s overall economic climate.

The European Motor Vehicles Manufacturers’ Assn. reports new-car sales – truck volume for May is not yet available – tumbled year-over-year for the eighth consecutive month in May, including declines in 20 of the 29 countries it tracks, which represent about 80% of the market’s volume.

The association reported May car sales of 1.15 million, down 8.4% from year-ago, and said year-to-date volume was off 7.3% from like-2011.

There were bright spots, with the biggest one being a 7.9% increase in May deliveries in the U.K., one of the larger markets in the region with a 14.1% share of car sales. Together, the eight other countries that posted increases accounted for only 5.9% of sales.

The eight largest companies in car-sales volume all posted declines in May.

Volkswagen, which sells close to one-fourth of the cars in Europe, posted a 5.5% downturn in May. That took its 5-month volume, after having tracked slightly ahead of last year through April, to 1.9% below year-ago.

Of the rest of the top eight, Peugeot had the biggest May decline to 19.6%, and its year-to-date sales slipped to 14.9% below year-ago. Renault/Nissan sales fell 13.7% in May, while its year-to-date volume sank 15.8%. Renault’s May decline was followed by Ford (-12.6%), Fiat (-12.1%), General Motors (-8.6%), BMW (-5.8%) and Daimler (-5.2%).

Toyota, Hyundai and Kia were among the few auto makers seeing sales increases in May. Notably, both Hyundai and Kia had year-to-date volumes well above those of a year ago.

The drop in May’s new-car sales signaled a continuation of a steady downward trend in deliveries of all vehicles that began at the end of last year.

Europe vehicle sales, including trucks, numbered 1.54 million units in April, 4.8% below like-2011 and marking the fifth straight monthly drop, WardsAuto data shows. Year-to-date 2012 volume of 6.193 million through April was 5.3% below the 4-month 2011 total of 6.54 million.

Sixteen of the 24 countries surveyed by WardsAuto posted declines in April; 13 of those countries, including the major markets of France and Italy, had 4-month totals below year-ago levels.

France’s year-to-date sales were down 15.3% and its share dropped to 13.4% from year-ago’s 15.0%. Deliveries in Italy slipped 21.9% and its share fell to 9.5% from year-ago’s 11.5%.

Year-to-date sales in Germany, the region’s largest market with an 18.6% share, were 1.5% ahead of prior-year. Four-month deliveries in the U.K. were flat compared with a year earlier, and its market share showed a 12.9% uptick from 12.2% year-ago.

Russia continued to noticeably buck the downward trend. Sales in May were up 13.3% and year-to-date deliveries were 17.5% ahead of last year. Also, its 15.0% to-date market share for 2012 made it the region’s second-largest market, compared with fourth place a year earlier when share was 12.1%.

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