Western European car sales down
Western Europe new passenger car registrations for October 2003 amounted to 1.179.024 units, representing a decrease of 0.3 per cent with respect to October 2002. The number of working days in October 2003 was the same as in October 2002. This basically flat result seems to point towards a stabilisation of the market, in line with most economic indicators. National figures show increases in 7 out of 15 EU countries, ranging from +5.4 per cent in Luxembourg to +33.9 per cent in Finland. Spain was the best performer among the 5 bigger markets. Decreases ranged from -0.3 per cent in Italy to -11.6 per cent in the Netherlands and Denmark. Cumulative figures for the first ten months of the year show a closing up of the overall decrease, now -1.3 per cent. Five countries post positive figures, ranging from +0.3 per cent in the U.K. to +25 per cent in Finland. All other countries report decreases, ranging from -0.6 per cent in Luxembourg to -20.2 per cent in Portugal.