Brussels, 15 October 2008 - A deepening global slowdown along with gloomy growth prospects and tumbling consumer confidence starts to take a toll on European auto makers, which are faced with the need to sustain high levels of investment to support the market transition to low-emission vehicles without the backing of sufficiently strong consumer demand and political support.

Please also see the press release on the drop in new car registrations in September, issued earlier this morning:

New car registrations in Europe fell by 8.2% in September compared to the same month last year, despite two working days extra across the region. Usually, September is a strong month for car sales that tend to pick up after the calmer summer months. In absolute numbers, registrations stalled at 1,304,583 units, or the lowest September level since 1998. Three quarters into 2008, a total of 11,710,521 new passenger cars were registered, or -4.4% less than over the same period of last year.

Sigrid de Vries
Director Communications
ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers Association)
Av. des Nerviens 85
1040 Brussels
+32 2 738 73 45 (Tel)  +32 485 88 66 47 (mobile)  +32 2 738 73 10 (fax); www.acea.be

ACEA represents the fifteen major European vehicle manufacturers. At the heart of the European industry, the automotive sector is the leading employer in manufacturing in the EU. The car industry provides increasingly high-skilled jobs to 2.3 million Europeans and indirectly supports another 10 million employees in related sectors. Europe is the world's largest vehicle producer. Of the almost 50 million passenger cars produced globally, one third are manufactured in the EU. The ACEA members yearly invest 4% of turnover (euro 20 billion) in R&D.