Western European October car registrations fall 35 pct over 12 months

Western European new car registrations fell by 3.5 percent in October from the figure 12 months earlier, industry association ACEA stated.

The association said that the drop was a result of the still hesitant economic situation and the lower number of working days in October this year. Volkswagen reported a strong rise in car registrations, rising 2.9 percent while registrations of Peugeot and Citroen fell by 11.5 percent.

Renault registrations were down by 8.2 percent and Fiat registrations were down by 12.4 percent.    DaimlerChrysler registrations were up by 0.2 percent and BMW registrations were up by 24.5 percent.

Among non-European brands, Ford registrations fell by two percent, General Motors registrations by 9.5 percent and Toyota and Lexus registrations by 4.4 percent.