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Car sales in Western Europe grew by 29.2% year-on-year in November according to data released by JD Power Automotive Forecasting, but the firm cautioned on the market outlook for 2010.
JD Power warned that the strong-looking November result needs to be seen in the context of weak sales last year and the continuing distortions to the market caused by government scrappage incentives.
JD Power analyst Pete Kelly told just-auto that the the seasonally adjusted annualised rate of sales (SAAR) for November 2009 stood at 14.8m units - a more 'normal' market level - but that he viewed it as 'brief reprieve' rather than marking an end to depressed market levels.
Car sales in Germany were up by 19.7% year-on-year in the month of November and a whopping 25.4% in the year to date.
"The scrapping incentive in Germany is no longer on offer and so we expect German sales to drop off relatively sharply over coming months," Kelly said.
JD Power said that the end to government support schemes will result in the West European car market declining by around 10% in 2010 to 12.15m units.
JD Power also noted that the French car market was 'decidedly strong' in November, with the selling rate climbing to 2.8m units with French car buyers thinking they had to register their cars by year-end to take advantage of a scrappage scheme there. However, the scheme has been amended so that, as long as an order comes in by the end of 2009, it will benefit. JD Power says this will mean that the French market will start off 2010 relatively strongly as related registrations spill over into 2010.
The Spanish car market also posted a strong month in November (SAAR over 1.1m units) while the UK car market gain of 57.6% reflected a scrappage effect (plus some buyers avoiding a January VAT increase) and exceptionally weak sales last year.
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| Car Sales - Click to enlarge |
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| Car Sales - Click to enlarge |
