European Community car sales fell 15.3 percent in 1993, the biggest annual decline since World War II and a harbinger of large losses at most of the continent’s carmakers.
Sales in the recession-hit 12 Common Market countries fell to 10.68 million passenger cars from 12.61 million, according to the European Automobile Makers Association.
The association also saw 1994 sales growth of 1 or 2 percent if the economy improves and called for a freeze on Japanese imports.
“Even if one believes the downturn in the European automobile market may have bottomed out, the expected improvements will be very modest and extremely slow,” said President and Fiat Auto S.p.A. Chairman Giorgio Garuzzo.
Other industry analysts predict zero or similar low growth.
The 1993 slump in the Common Market and the gloomy outlook for 1994 prompted Garuzzo to call for a freeze of Japanese car imports at 1993 levels. “Japanese manufacturers must share the burden of the present market decline,” said Garuzzo.
Japanese carmakers accounted for 12.4 percent of Common Market car sales in 1993, up from 11.9 percent a year earlier.
An agreement between the Common Market and Japan in 1991 called for the lifting of quotas on Japanese imports by 1999 in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece.
EC and Japanese trade officials are expected to meet this month. Last April, Japan agreed to cut imports in 1993 by 9.4 percent, to 980,000, cars because of the slump in Common Market car sales.
Last year’s 15.3 percent collapse in Common Market sales surpasses the 13.9 percent decline in 1974, when car buyers shunned showrooms after oil prices more than tripled, said Peter Schmidt, an industry analyst at Automotive Industry Data Ltd.
“It was a disaster from the start of the year,” Schmidt said. “And things don’t look any better this year.”
The 1993 decline was caused by the worst Common Market recession since 1975, Garuzzo said.
