FRANKFURT (MNI) – Eurozone new car registrations in January
remained below the previous-year level, data from industry group ACEA
showed Wednesday.

Excluding Cyprus, Malta and Estonia, Eurozone passenger car
registrations were only 0.6% lower on the year in January, after a 3.4%
annual decline in December. (Including Estonia, which saw a 118.2%
annual increase, the EMU decline was only 0.5%).

Registrations in western Europe (EU15) were 1.8% lower on the year.

Among major markets, German registrations were 16.5% higher on the
year, reflecting both the base effect of January 2010’s weak results and
improving consumer confidence.

The latest GfK consumer sentiment indicator pointed to a rise in
households’ propensity to spend, despite higher inflation expectations.
Consumers’ plans to make major purchases and buy a car within the coming
year also recovered further, according to the European Commission’s
survey.

French new registrations were up 8.2% in January. While this partly
reflects the base effect from the reduction in the scrapping premium in
January of last year, the figure could have been worse, since the
remaining bonus of E500 was eliminated at the start of this year.

Without public purchasing incentives this year, France’s car market
is likely to be sluggish for some months. Consumers’ intention to buy a
car over the next 12 twelve months dropped in January for the first time
in two quarters, according to the Commission’s survey.

Italian registrations fell 20.7% on the year in January after a
21.7% annual drop in December. Spanish registrations were down 23.5%,
after -23.9% in December. Spanish consumption market is being dampened
by staggering unemployment, which has remained entrenched at around 20%
since the summer.

Among other reporting countries, Austrian registrations were up
22.5% on the year, Belgium rose 7.8%, Finland was up 11.3%, the
Netherlands gained 19.8%, Slovakia was up 51.3%. Even Ireland, mired in
crisis, saw a gain of 28.7%.

Greece, however, is clearly living amidst austerity: registrations
there were down a massive 63.3% on the year, the sharpest contraction in
Europe.

— Frankfurt bureau: +49-69-720 142; email: frankfurt@marketnews.com —

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