Car sales fell in France, Spain and Italy during August after government subsidies to car buyers were phased out or ended.
In France, sales were down 9.8 per cent – which came as their scrappage scheme was phased out. In Spain, volume fell 23.8 per cent to 44,578 in August compared to a year earlier, according to car makers association ANFAC.
Italian car sales dropped 19 per cent to 63,000 last month, according to Italy’s dealer association Federauto.
A French consumer credit representative said car sales will continue to show year-on-year falls in France in the coming months.
Sales figures compare to very strong months in late 2009, when consumers flocked to take advantage of the €1000 bonus before it was reduced.
Federauto president Filippo Pavan Bernacchi said Italian dealers would have to cut about 15,000 of their current 178,000 jobs to survive in the declining market.
In Spain, government subsidies to help people buy new cars ran out at the start of July, at the same time as a jump in their value-added tax was introduced.
