Car sales in Western Europe skidded 7% in July, according to data released by JDPower Automotive Forecasting. While the French and German markets held up relatively well, large falls came in from the key UK, Italian, and Spanish markets, where the rates of decline were in double digits.
The UK market took a decisive turn for the worse in July, with a shortfall in demand of 13% on July 2007 and the Spanish market fell back by 28% in July, after the 31% drop in June.
JD Power say consumer confidence is diminishing, OEMs are scaling back, and the global economic picture continues to deteriorate, so they are now more pessimistic on the sales outlook for 2008 and 2009.