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European Automobile Manufacturers Association Say Sales Are Continuing to Fall

Sales Down in every month of the year

Volkswagen should feel good that it did so well despite such poor regional sales

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has released its monthly report on European Union auto sales and included sales for the entire year. There is really no good news, unfortunately.

Sales have been down every month this year compared to the same month in the previous year. About 800,000 cars were sold in Europe in December. What is worse, the worst sales in the last 12 months came in December when sales were down 16.3% over the previous December. It was the worst December sales since 2008. Part of the sales loss is attributed to two fewer working days in December 2012 compared to December 2011.

For all of 2012, European car sales have hit the lowest level since 1995. For the entire year, 12,053,904 cars were sold in 2012. It also represents an 8.2% drop compared to 2011. That is the largest percentage decline in auto sales since 1993 when sales dropped 16.9% over the previous year.

Sales are not even healthy when analyzing individual markets. In December, sales in France were down 14.6%, down 16.4% in Germany, down 22.5% in Italy and down 23% in Spain. The UK was the lone bright spot with a 3.7% sales increase.

Regionally, things are just as bad for the entire year. Sales were down 2.9% in Germany, down 13.4% in Spain, and down 19.9% in Italy. The UK grew by 5.3%.