Europe sales cold in March

Smart sales tumbled 58.8 percent in March. The ForTwo is shown.

Diana T. Kurylko | Automotive News / April 23, 2007 - 1:00 am Vehicle sales in Europe fell in March, with three of the biggest five markets dropping.

Sales fell 0.3 percent in March compared with March 2006, to 1.82 million units. For the first quarter, sales were off 0.2 percent to 4,220,019 vehicles.

In Germany, traditionally Europe's biggest market, sales were down 6.6 percent - partly because of continued customer reaction to an increase in the value-added tax.

The United Kingdom vaulted to No. 1 in Europe in March, with sales rising 3.1 percent above the March 2006 figure. For the three-month period, the United Kingdom fell back to third place behind No. 1 Italy and second place Germany.

March sales in Italy rose 2.4 percent, but France declined by 3.8 percent and Spain was off 0.4 percent.

Of the volume brands, General Motors was down 1.6 percent in March, and Renault sales fell 9.4 percent.

But Europe's largest automaker, Volkswagen, was up 2.2 percent, largely because of a 5.0 percent increase in Audi sales. The VW brand was down 1.1 percent in March compared with a year earlier.

The Fiat group had the biggest percentage jump in sales, up 6.3 percent in March compared with a year earlier.

Toyota Motor continued to gain ground in Europe with a March increase of 6.2 percent. For the quarter, Toyota had the biggest increase of the volume makes, up 12.9 percent compared with the first three months of 2006.

DaimlerChrysler fell 6.3 percent in March, with a 2.1 percent decrease in Mercedes-Benz sales because of the changeover of the C class.

Smart, which is introducing the second-generation ForTwo car, was down 58.8 percent.

The Chrysler group posted a 15.2 percent increase in March, selling 12,660 units.

BMW Group sales skidded 5.4 percent in March. BMW brand sales were down 6.3 percent. Mini sales were off 0.7 percent because a second-generation Cooper is being phased in.

Ford Motor sales were up 1.3 percent in March, with the Ford brand rising by 1.9 percent.