Spain April car sales surge

 

Spanish car sales for April surged as scrapping incentives continued to boost demand, while in France sales growth slowed, showing the first signs of the negative impact of waning bonuses. Car sales have been buoyed by scrapping incentive schemes in major markets but some of these have run out or are due to soon, leading to predictions of a tough second half of 2010 from many carmakers.

In France, where scrapping incentives were reduced at the start of 2010, but are continuing at a lower rate, registrations rose 1.9 % in April to 190,986 units.

"Here we see the impact of the gradual reduction in the scrapping incentive," said a spokesman for industry association the CCFA.

"There is something of a decrease in the small car category, which benefitted most from the programme, and we know that we'll move into negative territory by the end of the year," the spokesman said.

"Despite this, the reports we have from carmakers also show that levels of orders for new models and medium-sized models are good, which means that the market is still holding up despite the reduction in aid" he added.

France's biggest carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen saw sales of its Peugeot brand cars rise 24.2 % in April compared with the same month last year, while Citroen brand cars were down 8.6 %, leaving an overall 7.3 % increase for the group.

Smaller rival Renault saw group sales grow 17.2 %, with Renault brand cars up 9 % and sales of Dacia models more than doubling. Renault has forecast a 10 % drop in the European car market as a whole for 2010.

Spain, meanwhile, where scrapping incentives are in place until the end of June, with calls for them to be extended, showed a 39.3 % increase in car sales to 93,637 units in April.

Italian car sales are due out later on Monday. Italy's scrapping incentive scheme has already run out but cars registered until the end of March were eligible for the scheme.

U.S. car sales for April due later on Monday are expected to show a double-digit year-on-year increase.

German premium carmaker Audi, the cash cow of the Volkswagen group, on Monday reaffirmed its 2010 revenue and profit targets, after increasing its operating margin by 40 basis points to 5.8 % in the first quarter.

April car sales at South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co rose year-on-year, driven by strong overseas sales and revamped models, but domestic sales were hit by increased competition.