The termination of government programs to help Europe’s car industry this year represent a rude awakening for car manufacturers, writes EUbusiness. This will be one of the main issues to be discussed by EU industry ministers during their meeting tomorrow (19.02.10). And while sales of new cars in Europe grew by 13 percent in January on an annual basis, the data from the largest European economies – Germany, showed completely different picture. In Germany this year expects sales of 2,75 to 3 million cars, while in 2009 reported sales were 3.8 million cars. After termination of the state program to help car sales in the country in January, the decline in automobile sales market Germany is 4.3 percent – a clear warning to the neighbors of Germany. In Italy, a growth of 30%, but there now expire on state support. This prompted the executive director of Fiat Sergio Marchionne to predict a decline in annual sales in Italy of 350 thousand cars. In Britain, public support for the sector was extended until the end of March, but expectations are for a decline in sales of 9% this year.
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