New passenger car sales lost a massive 27 pct across Europe (EU27+EFTA) in January, however Fiat, which was itself down 26 pct, was able to report some very good news as it leapt into fourth place overall, overtaking Renault and GM in the process, both of whom had a torrid month.

All markets across Europe contributing negatively to the results. New registrations have now dropped 9 months in a row. In absolute numbers, January 2009 volumes reached 958,500 units, or the lowest level in two decades Across Europe, the month counted on average 1.4 working days less than January 2008. In Western Europe, 891,505 new passenger cars were registered, or 26.5 pct less compared to January last year. Iceland recorded the steepest fall (-88.1 pct), followed by Ireland (66.5 pct). With the exception of France (-7.9 pct), all markets faced a double-digit downturn.

Looking at the major markets, Germany (-14.2 pct) fared the best after France, while the UK (-30.9 pct), Italy (-32.6 pct) and Spain (-41.6 pct) began 2009 with more important losses. In the new EU Member States, demand for new passenger cars contracted by 34.0 pct. The Polish market registered the most new cars and recorded the smallest drop (-5.3 pct). All other markets declined strongly, including the larger markets such as Romania (-53.2 pct), Hungary (-52.3 pct) and the Czech Republic (-12.3 pct).