Car Sales in Europe Plunge 11%

Passenger vehicle registrations across Europe fell to 1.13 million units in September from 1.27 million a year earlier, industry group ACEA reports.

It was the region's 12th consecutive month of year-on-year losses and the third month of accelerating decline.

Demand jumped 8% to 359,600 vehicles in the U.K. in September, traditionally the country's biggest sales month. But volume dropped in Germany (-11% to 250,100 units), France (-18% to 137,500 units), Italy (-26% to 109,200 units) and Spain (-37% to 35,100 units).

Every major carmaker posted significant declines for September. Sales shrank 8% to 270,000 units at Volkswagen group, 9% to 121,900 vehicles at PSA, 16% to 95,400 units at GM and 14% to 92,600 vehicles at Ford. Volume plummeted 29% to 78,300 units at Renault, and plunged 19% to 67,000 units at Fiat.

Gainers in September included BMW (+4% to 83,300 units), Hyundai-Kia (+4% to 75,000 units), Toyota (+1% to 52,400 units), Honda (+3% to 19,000 units) and Jaguar Land Rover (+13% to 16,400 units).

Car sales across Europe for the January-September period totaled 9.7 million units, down 7% from the same period in 2011, according to ACEA.