According to a report released by Poland's Automotive Market Research Institute (SAMAR) based on the analysis from market intelligence provider for automotive industry, JATO Dynamics, Central and Eastern European new car markets continue to suffer the full effects of the recession, in the absence of the government-supported scrappage schemes that have assisted many of their western neighbours.
In the third quarter of 2009, new car sales in Central and Eastern Europe totaled 213,086 units, decreasing by 32 percent year on year. Poland remains the largest market in the region, with sales of 70,733 marking it as one of only two markets in the region to post a rise in sales, compared to Q3 2008.
However, Poland's growth rate continued to be outperformed by Slovakia, which saw its sales rise by 8.1 percent in the third quarter of this year. All other markets suffered falls, with Latvia at 73.9 percent and Lithuania at 68.1 percent, selling less than 2,000 new cars in the quarter in question.
"Eastern Europe is suffering far more than Western markets," says David Di Girolamo, head of JATO. "Of course, the worrying thing here, for Western Europe, is it reveals the ‘true' level of demand for new cars, when the cushioning effect of scrappage and other incentives is removed."
The biggest faller of all in the third quarter was Hungary, where new car sales virtually collapsed to just 9,689 units, declining by 74.7 percent, compared to 38,324 units in Q3 2008.