Car Sales Drop in Most of Europe’s Major Markets

Registrations of new passenger vehicles in four of western Europe's five biggest auto markets fell in June from a year earlier, according to national trade groups.

The U.K. remains the exception to the region's slump. Deliveries of new vehicles there last month jumped 13% from June 2012 to 215,000 units, says the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The country's car registrations climbed 10% to 1.16 million vehicles in the first half of 2013.

But in Germany, new-car deliveries slid 5% to 282,900 vehicles last month, federal auto bureau KBA reports. Sales there dropped 8% to 1.5 million vehicles in the January-June period.

France's car registrations tumbled 9% from a year earlier to 190,200 units in June, according to industry group CCFA. Demand shrank 11% to a 16-year low of 930,900 units in the first six months of this year.

In Italy, vehicle deliveries fell 6% to 122,000 units in June and 10% to 731,200 units in the first half, the country's transport ministry says.

Registrations in Spain dipped 1% year on year to 72,800 cars, trade group ANFAC reports. Year-to-date volume is down 5% to 386,400 units.