ACEA figures for 2003 passenger car sales hardly make good reading for European car manufacturers. The only country to show significant sales increases in 2003 was Finland, with an increase of around 30,000 units. Portugal’s drop in sales though of almost 27,000 almost wipes out that gain. Despite claims in the UK of a good year for car sales, the actual figure shows only a 0.6 per cent increase. Overall the market in Western Europe shows a fall of 1.3 per. Looking at vehicle manufacturer sales the only western manufacturer to make any gains has been BMW with a meagre 1.4 per cent increase in sales, largely generated by sales of the Mini. For all the other groups it is bad news, with sales down between 1.3 and 10.2 per cent (the latter at the long ailing Fiat Group). Japanese and Korean manufacturers though can smile as sales for all bar Suzuki and Mitsubishi are all on the increase, with Nissan and Mazda performing particularly well, and Korean manufacturer Kia making an incredible comeback from the brink of extinction.
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