Sales of new cars, for many households the most expensive outlay after a house, dropped further in Spain and France as the bleak economic outlook dents consumer spending and weighs on car maker's earnings. Spanish car sales fell by 41.6 percent in January versus a year earlier to leave car makers desperately in need of aid similar to that announced in other European countries, industry association ANFAC said on Monday. In France, new car sales were down 7.9 percent to 149,385 vehicles after a 15.8 percent drop in December, the French auto industry body CCFA said. Based on the same number of working days, sales were down 3.5 percent. Sales of French brands dropped 14.8 percent and took their combined market share to 50 percent. PSA Peugeot Citroen had 11.2 percent fewer sales and group sales at Renault fell 20.9 percent. Spain's rate of sales decline slowed from December's 49.9 percent drop, but in absolute terms, January's sales were considerably worse than those of the preceding month. A total of 59,835 cars were sold last month, down by over 12,000 from December, as Spain's recession mauled spending by heavily indebted consumers. ANFAC said government measures announced so far, including loans for people who want to buy new cars to replace older, more heavily polluting models, were insufficient. “The industry urgently needs measures to boost demand,” ANFAC said in a news release. “In countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden, which have lower production than Spain, they have taken measures to support the industry in the form of guarantees for 2.5 billion euros and 3 billion euros respectively,” ANFAC said. Newspaper Cinco Dias reported last week that the government was studying car industry aid including a suspension of social security payments by car companies, but officials have declined to give details of plans.
