West European market down by 0.9% in January

The West European car market dropped by 0.9% over the same period last year. France, Italy and Spain recorded the strongest fall.

The Spanish market suffered from the new tax scheme and premium segment collapsed in January as customers bought luxury cars in December before the new car tax applies.

The French market also followed a similar path. The new car tax penalized premium models, especially SUV models. Despite a weak January, experts expect the French market to grow by 1-2 percent this year.

The Italian market also recorded a sales drop as economy is slowing. With the recent political events the market will likely go down the next months.

The British market also fell by 2.1% and the ongoing effects of the credit crunch, a housing market slowdown and a general faltering of consumer confidence will likely weaken the 2008 sales.

Among all those gloomy markets, Germany recorded a strong 10.6% over the same period last year; however, this good news can be explained by the expected new annual circulation tax that the german government will unveil in the middle of this year.