W. Europe Car Sales Decline

Western European car sales fell 1% in October as the French and German markets weakened, according to industry data compiled by LMC Automotive.

Registrations last month were 1.05 million vehicles, the consulting firm said on Friday, based on a combination of national data and estimates for some smaller markets, Reuters reported on November 5.

The decline left the seasonally adjusted annual rate of car sales at 13.4 million, which was 7.1% lower than in September.

Registrations fell 5.6% in Germany and 4% in France last month, while in the UK, sales rose 1.4% as higher business demand offset falling private sales following the country’s June 23 referendum vote to leave the European Union. In key southern markets, Italy reported a 9.8% rise and Spanish sales were up 4%.

Following a strong September where sales rose 6.6%, the October result “disappointed”, LMC analyst Emiliano Lewis said, as LMC trimmed its full-year sales growth forecast to 5.7% from 5.9%.

Nonetheless, Lewis said, “all markets are on course to grow in 2016, including the UK, which so far shows no after-effects of the Brexit vote.”