Motor trades were down 33 percent in April through June 2012, as compared to last year





Car sales and motor trades have decreased dramatically since 2005, according to a Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) study released Tuesday. Preliminary results for April through June 2012 show that motor trades, an umbrella category that includes sales of cars, motorbikes, and spare parts, as well as car services such as maintenance, are down 33 percent since last year, and are 28 percent of motor trades in 2005. In the same vein, sales of motor vehicles were down by 39 percent compared to 2012 and are 23 percent of what they were in 2005. However, it is important to note that as compared to the first quarter of 2012, motor trades are up seven percent, and motor sales are up three percent.

The sale of motor vehicles and motor trades peaked in late 2007, when car sales were 121 percent of what they were in 2005. Since mid-2008, motor trades and motor vehicles sales have been falling rapidly, with the biggest step down taking place in the third quarter of 2010, when the sales of motor vehicles dropped by 28 percent as compared to the previous quarter and 61 percent as compared to the previous year. Similarly, motor trades dropped 42 percent year-on-year during that time and 54 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Also according to ELSTAT, the number of cars put into circulation has fallen for the past several years. The largest number of new cars on the road was in 2007, when there were 306,746 new cars on the road. The latest data indicates that in 2011, there were only 104,495 new cars on the road, the lowest number since 1989.

Other ELSTAT data indicates that the total number of registered vehicles in Greece was 8,086,910 as of the end of 2011, slightly more than the 8,062,085 registered vehicles on the roads in 2010. While the number increased by about 20,000 between 2010 and 2011, between 2000 and 2008 it would typically increase by about 350,000 each year. (Athens News/le) Link:[http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/15/58051/]No data