European car sales soar ahead of scrappage schemes' closure

(egd)

New car registrations soared in Spain and the UK in February 2010, according to figures released this week.

ANFAC, the Spanish carmakers' association, said that the February 2010 sales figure of 91,281 vehicles was a 47 percent rise from February 2009. In the UK, 68,686 units were sold in February 2010, up 26.4 percent from February 2009.

Of those British sales, 19.6 percent were due to the continuing scrappage scheme, due to end at the end of this month. Releasing the figures on March 4, the UK's car industry association SMMT said that the scrappage scheme had contributed to eight months of positive sales.

Earlier this week, the Italian carmakers' federation UNRAE said that the new car market rose by 25.75 percent, whilst the French CCFA posted a rise of 17.8 percent year on year, to 179,926 registrations.

However, these countries that retain their scrappage schemes are looking anxiously to Germany, which posted a 30 percent fall in the number of new registrations in February. Foreign brands were particularly hard-hit, falling 45 percent. The German scrappage scheme ended in September 2009.