Declining car sales in western Europe are being partly compensated by strong sales growth in the east of the continent, monthly figures released in Brussels Friday showed, REPORTED DPA. Overall new-car registrations in June of 1,543,770 were also slightly up from June one year ago. The ACEA, representing European automobile manufacturers, calculated the annual gain for June at 0.7 per cent. It said the main gain in June happened in the new EU member states, with 19,360 more passenger cars sold than one year ago, a gain of 21.1 per cent. The figures are a compilation from the 27 European Union nations plus small neighbours in the European Free Trade Association. For the first six months of 2007, the 0.2-per-cent decline in new car registrations would have been worse if it had not been for "a solid increase in the new member states of 14.8 per cent," the ACEA said. Italy showed the biggest sales gain in the month of June, up 8 per cent year on year, while the continent's biggest single market, Germany, was down 7 per cent from one year ago. The German slump has been blamed on a boost in sales tax in January.
