With Easter falling earlier than last year, there has been some negative impact from fewer selling days on the most recent month's result. Nonetheless, the Seasonally Adjusted Annualised Rate (SAAR), which takes account of this, continues to disappoint, according to LMCA.

The sales patterns echo the themes seen in recent months continued in March. Out of the major markets, only the UK continues go grow, helped by a vibrant private retail sector. Importantly for the UK, March is a seasonally strong month and indicates that the full year 2013 result will see another solid improvement.

Elsewhere, there was less to be positive about, and the selling rate for the region remains a major concern.

Sales in Germany continued to fall at a rapid pace, down by 17.1% for the month and 12.9% year to date. The year‐on‐year comparison is made worse not only because of fewer selling days, but also because the German market appeared fairly buoyant this time last year. The selling rate is hovering just below the 3.0 million unit/year, around where we expect the full year number to finish.

The Spanish market was another to see further falls from where it was a year ago, down 13.9% for the month and 11.5% year to date. The PIVE scheme, which has been extended from its initial introduction in October 2012, is helping the market to an extent, though it is no match for the strong economic headwind impacting car sales in Spain. With the private side of the market boosted by the PIVE scheme, the implication is that the company car side is struggling badly.

French car registrations fell for the seventeenth month in a row, down 16.4% and with first quarter 2013 sales falling by nearly 15%. Selling rates remain decidedly low in France, and with a lack of support from the French economy, another double‐digit percentage drop in the market remains LMCA’s base assumption for 2013.

The Italian market slipped further last month, though at 4.9% down this was not as bad as previous months. LMCA adds that the latest result does compare to a strike‐disrupted month in 2012, but the selling rate remained below 1.3 million units/year, around half the levels it was capable of in the better years of last decade.