European Car Sales Plummet, Even In Solid Germany

[Purveyor]

MILAN (AP) -- Europe's auto market is in freefall. Once the motor for Europe's economy, the car industry has fallen victim to the region's widening recession and soaring unemployment. Carmakers have suffered 18 straight months of declining sales as people worried that they might soon be out of a job put off making big purchases.

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The German fall - which was felt by across the country's domestic industry from Volkswagen to Mercedes - took analysts by surprise. The country, after all, was still realtively prosperous.

"How can it be so bad when employment and economic growth remain solid?" said Max Warburton of Bernstein Research.

The answer lies in the demand-sapping problems of Europe's debt crisis. The economy of the 27-country European Union is on the verge of a recession after it contracted 0.5 percent in the last quarter of 2012 while unemployment is at nearly 11 percent. This has drained consumers across the EU of any confidence to make big-ticket purchases like a new car.

more...

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SINKING_AUTO_SALES_?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-04-17-14-48-45

[golfguru]

1. The debt is killing Europe

What is the main problem which links the CPIIGS countries?
Cyprus, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain have one thing glaringly in common....too much debt, too much spending by their governments.

[DJ13]

2. Austerity kills economies

[villager]

3. of course ultimately car sales will have to plummet eveywhere if we're going to save

...the planet.

No one is planning a transition to that economy