European car sales mixed as scrappage schemes end

(VanHart)

European car sales showed a mixed performance in May as scrappage schemes ended, according to figures.

Spain posted a 44.6 percent rise, selling a total of 102,873 units in May, Spanish carmakers' association ANFAC reported.

British manufacturers' association the SMMT said June 4 that sales in the United Kingdom rose by 13.5 percent in May, the eleventh successive monthly rise, although SMMT chief Paul Everitt said that he expected the coming months to be "extremely challenging".

All other major European markets posted a decline in May.

In France, new passenger car sales fell 11.5 percent year on year on the back of a reduced scrappage incentive, the first fall for over a year.

Figures from French carmakers' association the CCFA showed that foreign brands were the worst hit, falling 14.5 percent, while domestic brands fell by 8.9 percent.

Italian car sales fell by 13.79 percent, said Italian association UNRAE, a total of 163,700 units (down from 189,878 a year ago).

In Germany, Europe's largest market, the VDA said that May sales fell by 34 percent, taking the total sales figures for 2010 to 1.18 million - 28 percent lower than the same time last year.