Car sales drop

In Western Europe, new car sales contracted by 8.4 percent in 2008. The downturn was most prominent in the last quarter when new car sales dropped by 19.3 percent compared with the same period of 2007. Only four countries posted growth, i.e. Finland, Portugal, Belgium and Switzerland.
While fiscal measures helped sustain growth in Finland and Portugal, the Belgian and Swiss sales levels seem to have better resisted the financial and economic crises prevailing throughout Europe, the ACEA said.
Iceland and Ireland were among the countries recording the most remarkable downturn last year, down by 43.3 percent and 18.7 percent respectively.
In Central and Eastern European countries, which joined the EU after 2004, new car sales slipped by 0.7 percent in 2008, similarly affected by a worsening performance towards the end of the year.