Berlin - Sales of Luxury Italian car brands Alfa Romeo and Lancia slumped sharply in May, as new auto registrations in the nation fell, data released Friday showed. Amid rising economic uncertainty and soaring oil prices, new Italian car registrations dropped by 17.6 per cent in May compared with the same month in 2007, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) said.
Car registrations in Italy, which is one of Europe's key auto markets, fell 10 per cent during the first months of 2008 compared with the corresponding period last year.
Total European car sales slumped a 7.8 per cent in May, the ACEA said with auto registrations slipping 0.7 per cent during the first five months of the year.
Helping to lead the fall in car sales in Italy was a 4.5-per-cent year-on-year fall in May clocked up by the nation's key automaker, the Fiat group.
New car registrations by the Fiat company's stable of brands dropped by 1.7 per cent during in the first five months of 2008, the ACEA said.
In particular, this followed an 8.6-per-cent year-on-year drop run up by Lancia and a 16.3 per cent decline by Alfa Romeo.
The falls for both brands, which are part of the Fiat Group, were even more dramatic since the start of the year. While Lancia's new car registrations dropped by 10.2 per cent, Alfa Romeo's registrations fell by 36 per cent.
New registrations for Fiat's flagship Fiat brand edged down 2.4 per cent on the year, but rose 4.4 per cent during the first five months of 2008.
