Europe’s November Car Sales Tumble 10.3%

PARIS – European car deliveries fell 10.3% in November, pushing year-to-date results down 7.6%, compared with year-ago, and promising to make 2012 the worst year since 1993.

There is no sign the sales decline has hit bottom and little optimism that 2013 will be any better.

The 926,000 new-car sales last month were only slightly better than the 906,000 in November 2008, at the start of the region’s disastrous economic collapse.

Car deliveries in 10 countries plunged more than 19%, with three of those among – France, Spain and Italy – among Europe’s five large markets.

Another positive month in the U.K. and the continuing decline in France made the U.K. the second-largest auto market in November. For decades, France has been the clear No.2.

BMW group was 37 units to the good, in the month, joining Mazda, Hyundai and Jaguar Land Rover with positive results. Everyone else was down, with Mitsubishi, Renault and Suzuki suffering declines of more than 20%.

After 11 months, the year’s winners and losers are clear. Land Rover, Jeep, Hyundai and Kia all grew their car sales more than 10%, gaining more than 1.1 points of market share, combined.

Hyundai, Audi, Jaguar and Lexus saw overall sales grow in the year, while Chevrolet, BMW, Skoda, Mercedes and Toyota were down less than 2% for the first 11 months.

The Renault brand was the highest-volume loser, giving up 1.2 points of share, as sales slid 22.3% in the first 11 months. Smaller players Mitsubishi and Alfa Romeo were down more than 30% through November.