* French January car sales up 0.5 pct year on year
* Spanish sales up 7.6 pct on government subsidies
* Italian sales rise 3.24 pct, industry groups cautious
* European market headed “in right direction” – analyst
(Adds Italy data, comment)
By Andreas Cremer and Dominique Vidalon
PARIS/BERLIN, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Car sales in France and
Spain rose for the fifth straight month in January, suggesting
the recovery in Europe’s autos market is strengthening after a
six-year slump.
New vehicle registrations also picked up for the second
consecutive month in Italy, Europe’s fourth-biggest car market
and one of the worst-affected by the economic malaise.
The figures add to broader signs that the European economy
is emerging from a protracted period of weakness that weighed
heavily on consumer demand, particularly in the region’s
debt-laden southern countries.
January’s sales of new cars in Spain, Europe’s No. 5 autos
market, increased by 7.6 percent year on year to 53,436
vehicles, car manufacturers’ association Anfac said on Monday,
helped by government subsidies.
In France, Europe’s third-largest car market, new
registrations edged up 0.5 percent to 125,477 cars, industry
association CCFA said, keeping its forecast for stable to
slightly higher car sales in the country this year.
“The European car market is beginning to slowly head in the
right direction,” said Jonathon Poskitt, head of European
forecasting for LMC Automotive, predicting that sales in western
Europe will increase by 3 percent to 11.85 million vehicles in
2014.
New car sales in Italy were up 3.24 percent on January last
year to 117,802 vehicles, Italy’s transport ministry said on
Monday.
INDUSTRY CAUTION
While the figure suggested that the market may be turning a
corner, industry groups urged caution, saying that part of the
increase was attributable to car owners finally replacing old
vehicles after deferring purchases during the financial crisis.
“In absolute terms, sales of passenger cars (in Italy)
remain at levels last seen in the late 1970s,” automotive
research group Centro Studi Promotor said in a note.
Swedish new car sales surged by 19 percent in January, added
Bil Sweden, whose members represent 99 percent of all new
registrations in the country.
In France, Renault’s sales rose 12.4 percent to
34,151 cars, helped by its new Captur mini-SUV and no-frills
Dacia models. That lifted the group’s share of its home market
to 27.22 percent from 24.35 percent.
Larger French rival Peugeot, which is seeking a
tie-up with China’s Dongfeng as its struggles to halt European
losses and expand overseas, recorded a more modest 6 percent
rise in sales.
Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest carmaker, saw its
French sales decline 9.1 percent in January to 15,286 cars.
Sales by General Motors fell 8.3 percent.
South Korea’s Hyundai and affiliate Kia
reported a combined 27 percent sales drop, but
Toyota’s registrations rose 10.5 percent.
French delivery van sales fell 7.7 percent to 27,388
vehicles in January, the CCFA said, taking total light vehicle
registrations to 152,865, a 1 percent decline.
Europe’s top market Germany is due to release January
delivery figures on Tuesday.
(Additional reporting by Gilles Guillaume, Fiona Ortiz and
Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Geert De Clercq and David Goodman)
