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EU car sales down on sharp drop in Britain

October 17, 2017

New registrations of cars in the European Union have gone down markedly in recent weeks. Fresh figures show that particularly the UK auto market is going through a rough patch amid Brexit-related uncertainties.

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Train with Peugeot cars
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte

September car sales in the European Union dropped by 2 percent year on year, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported Tuesday.

It said that a total of 1.43 million were registered across the bloc, compared with 1.46 million vehicles in the same month a year earlier.

ACEA officials hastened to add that the September 2016 figures were the highest total on record to date, "constituting a high basis of comparison."

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'Problem child'

Nevertheless, there's no ignoring the steep drop in car sales in the UK where new registration were down 9.3 percent in September 2017.

"Britain is turning into the problem child of the European car industry," said EY analyst Peter Fuss. "Brexit-related uncertainties are taking their toll among potential buyers."

Sales in Germany decreased by 3.3 percent, but Italy and Spain bucked the trend and recorded increases.

In the first nine month of the year, Volkswagen Group remained market leader with a 23.5 percent share in sales, while France's Renault logged a 10.3 percent share between January and September.

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hg/jd (dpa, AFP)