European new car sales down by 25.8% in November

BRUSSELS, Dec. 16 (Chinese media) -- New car sales in Europe fell by 25.8 percent in November compared to the same month of last year, declining for the seventh month in a row, the European automakers association ACEA said on Tuesday.

It was the largest monthly drop since 1999, which ACEA said should be blamed on the financial and economic crises.

Markets in Western Europe and the new European Union (EU) member states contracted at a similar pace, down by 26 percent and22.6 percent respectively. All national markets in Europe decreased except Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic.

In Western Europe, a total of 854,698 new passenger cars were registered in November. The downturn hit all countries except Finland, ranging from 3.5 percent in Portugal to 55.9 percent in Ireland.

Markets in the new EU member states echoed the November drop recorded in Western Europe.

The central and eastern European markets had long showed more resilience, in relative terms, because of the greater number of first-time buyers as opposed to the replacement market of Western Europe.

Cumulatively from January to November, 13,788,256 new cars were registered in Europe, representing a 7.1 percent downturn.

Faced with shrinking consumption in the economic downturn and credit crunch in the wake of the financial crisis as well as stricter emission rules, the European car industry, like their U.S. rivals, came under distress in recent months.

In October, ACEA asked the EU for 40 billion euros (about 55 billion U.S. dollars) in loans to help the industry develop green technologies, which has not been accepted.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, whose country holds the EU rotating presidency, called on Monday for action to save European car industry since the U.S. government is considering a massive bailout for its carmakers.

"We cannot sit on our hands while others are doing things. We should be concerned about what is going on the other side of the Atlantic," Lagarde told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.