The European car market continues to fluctuate with German and Italian sales depressed but France and the UK showing signs of improvement.
The latest figures from researchers Jato for June 2010 show a significant drop in sales in both Germany and Italy and overall, European sales are down 6.5% year-on-year, marking growth of just 1.1% year to date against 2009.
German sales fell 32.3%, with Italy 19.1% lower although Central and Eastern European markets were also weak. Major brands Fiat, Ford and Volkswagen were particularly affected, although Volkswagen's newly relaunched Golf remains the most popular seller in Europe.
French automaker Renault have made the most of a 2.3% uplift in its home country's sales, jumping from fifth to second in the European sales league with both its Clio and Megane models increasing in June. The UK has also picked up with a 10.8% year-on-year boost, although this may largely be due to the continued benefits of the scrappage scheme introduced in mid-2009 and which finished earlier this year. The uplift particularly helped sales of Vauxhall's (Opel) Astra (Corsa) model.
Jato claims that the uncertainty in the market means that in the long-term Germany could lose it's title as the largest new vehicle market in Europe.