European new car market down in first two months of 2007; Fiat Punto is Europe’s best selling car

JATO Dynamics, a provider of automotive data and intelligence today reports that European new car sales have fallen by 2.6% (28,814 units) in February, when compared to the same month last year. The first two months of the year have seen the market fall by 0.6% (15,228 units) to 2,357,591.

A core reason behind this drop has the been continued pressure on the German market brought about by the revised taxation regime introduced at the start of 2007 which has generated a 15.1% drop in sales when compared to February 2006. The country is 12.8% down, year to date. This is the result of retail customers bringing forward the purchase of new vehicles at the end of 2006 to avoid the rise in VAT from 16% to 19% at the beginning of 2007.

However, while many of the core western European markets are struggling to match last year’s volumes, many eastern European markets are enjoying unprecedented growth. Latvia stands out as a market enjoying an 84% increase in sales over February last year.

Volkswagen once again remains Europe’s best selling brand, ahead of Opel/Vauxhall and Ford which has seen sales improve by 3.0% in February and a 1.6% increase year to date thanks largely to the success of the new S-Max MPV. New model introductions continue to be the most important factor in driving sales growth for manufacturers.

The Fiat Punto continues to enjoy sales success and was Europe’s best selling new car in February 2007 with 32,059 units sold. The Peugeot 207 is second place with 30,345 units sold and the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa has now dropped to third place with 28,541 units sold. The Renault Clio, Ford Focus, Opel/Vauxhall Astra, VW Golf, Ford Fiesta, Fiat Panda and VW Passat complete the top ten rankings.

Source : Finfacts.com