European car sales slump further in March

A demand for luxury vehicles couldn't prevent car sales across Europe dropping 10.3 per cent in March from figures seen last year, reports guardian.co.uk. New readings from the Association of European Carmakers (Acea) found most manufacturers witnessing a drop in business, with Jaguar the only firm to see big gains. Peugeot and Toyota were the worst affected, their sales dropping 16 per cent from last year. This came despite Toyota announcing that sales of its petrol-electric hybrid vehicles had passed five million, according to bbc.co.uk. Volkswagen and US car maker General Motors saw similar declines, their sales slumping 15 per cent and 12.8 per cent respectively. Jaguar on the other hand saw an increase sales, its business rising 21 per cent over the course of 12 months. Meanwhile Mercedes provided further evidence of a resurgence for the luxury car market through a 0.8 increase in sales. Christian Stadler, associate professor of strategic management at Warwick Business School, said the firms who are positioned well for the months ahead are boasting lines of high-end products. The same could apply to vehicle rental firms, like those believing they have the best prestige car hire Surrey, Southampton, Portsmouth or similar can offer. "Car firms positioned in this way will be able to avoid the worst of the European slowdown," added Mr Stadler

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