New passenger car sales in Europe slumped by 5.5 per cent last year following the end of government-backed incentives aimed at encouraging motorists to upgrade their vehicles, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) said Friday, according to dpa. A total of 13.36 million vehicles were registered in the European Union in 2010, the Brussels-based ACEA with the region's carmakers looking to the world's leading emerging markets to bolster global sales. EU car registrations fell 3.2 per cent in December compared with the same month in 2009. "The 2010 results were marked by the ending of government fleet renewal schemes in many EU countries," the ACEA said. However, car registrations in Germany, which is the region's biggest market, jumped by 6.9 per cent in December. This came after the nation lead the fall for last year with a hefty 23.4-per-cent drop. The country's car scrappage scheme came to an end in 2009. Car sales fell by 9.2 per cent in Italy in 2010 after slumping 21.7 per cent in December. Meanwhile, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) reported a 32-per-cent growth in sales last year. Sales in December rose 17.9 per cent from a year earlier, CAAM said in a statement. More than 18 million vehicles were sold last year in China, which overtook the United States in 2009 as the world's biggest car market. In a report also released Friday, the German Car Industry Federation (VDA) pointed to nations such as China as well Brazil, Russia and India as the key driving forces behind worldwide car sales. It also expects strong demand from the US as the world's biggest economy recovers from a steep recession. While EU car registrations fell last year, sales in India jumped by 31 per cent and by 11 per cent in Brazil. For the most part, the ACEA's EU registration figures for leading European carmakers reflected overall market trends. Volkswagen brand sales fell 10.3 per cent last month across the EU resulting in a 4.9-per-cent decline for the year. The German-based Volkswagen group is Europe's biggest auto manufacturer. Its French rival, the PSA Peugeot-Citroen group, posted a 6.8-per-cent slump last month and a 2.8-per-cent drop in 2010. Registrations for Italy's Fiat group were down 19.6 per cent in December and by 17.4 per cent last year. Asian automakers such as Nissan, Hyundai and KIA faired somewhat better with sales gaining ground in 2010. But the world's biggest carmaker Japanese Toyota group suffered a 9.2-per-cent drop in EU sales in December, which helped to bring its fall for the year to 17.4 per cent. However, many of the car markets in countries that have struggled to emerge from the crisis that emerged in the global economy in 2008 rebounded in 2010. Ireland, which last year was forced to call for an international bailout, posted the biggest rise in car sales last year. Registrations in the country surged by 54.7 per cent after tumbled by 62.1 per cent in 2009. New car registrations in Spain and Britain increased by 3.1 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. Car sales were also robust in Portugal, rising by 38.8 per cent last year after increasing by 61.9 per cent in December. In general car showrooms across Central Europe enjoyed buoyant sales with the region's biggest economy Poland reporting a 26-per-cent jump in December. This helped to bring the increase for the year to 4.1 per cent. Registrations in Latvia soared by 203.5 per cent last month and by 32.9 per cent last year amid a strong pickup in sales across the Baltics. Bulgaria, however, recorded the steepest fall for the year for the EU member states, contracting by 28.9 per cent. But the ACEA figures were grim reading for car distributors in Greece, where registrations fell 61.9 per cent last month and declined by 35.8 per cent during the year. Greece has also called for an international bailout and has launched a tough round of austerity measures aimed at cleaning up its state finances.
