FRANKFURT (MNI) – Eurozone new passenger car registrations in
November remained well below previous-year levels for the eighth
consecutive month, the sector association ACEA said Wednesday.
For the Eurozone excluding Cyprus and Malta, registrations were
down 9.5% on the year after -18.6% in October. Western European (EU 15)
registrations were down 8.9% on the year after -18.2% in October.
Among large Eurozone countries, German registrations were down 6.2%
on the year, the first single-digit drop since January. This shows the
market is normalizing after last year’s scrapping premium, which
inflated 2009 results while leading to an unfavorable base effect for
this year.
French registrations were down barely 11% in November. Sales should
pick up further in December as buyers take advantage of the last
remnants of the country’s cash-for-clunkers program. Initially E1000,
the bonus is now only half that and will expire at the end of the year.
Indeed, the French statistics institute Insee expects spending on
manufactured goods to increase another 0.8% in 4Q (after 1.3% in 3Q),
thanks in part to higher auto purchases towards the end of the year.
Italian registrations fell 21.1% in November, and Spanish
registrations were 25.5% lower on the year.
Looking ahead, the German industry group VDA is upbeat about the
domestic market next year. It forecasts 3.1 million new registrations
after this year’s expected total of just over 2.9 million.
Surveys and sentiment data suggest this optimism is not unfounded;
Germany has come out of the crisis faster and stronger than expected,
experts agree.
Moreover, declining unemployment and the revival of concerns about
skilled-labour shortages in Germany herald long-awaited wage hikes in
the Eurozone’s largest economy.
The purchasing power of German consumers should increase by nearly
E500 on average next year, consumer researcher GfK predicted Tuesday.
“Besides impulses from export activities, economic stimulus is also
expected from domestic demand, supported by a positive labour market
development and low real interest rates,” ZEW president Wolfgang Franz
said Tuesday.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49-69-720 142; email: frankfurt@marketnews.com —
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