Europe sales fall 9% in August, adding to industry troubles

European new-car sales fell 8.6 percent in August as Nissan, Renault, Fiat and Volkswagen posted double-digit sales declines.

Registrations fell to 1.07 million across the European Union and EFTA countries, according to data published by industry association ACEA on Wednesday

Nissan sales plunged 48 percent while Renault saw sales of its core brand drop by 38 percent. Fiat brand's registrations fell 26 percent. Volkswagen brand's volume dropped 14 percent.

Among the premium brands, Jaguar's registrations were down 21 percent while sister brand Land Rover saw sales dip 3.3 percent. Mercedes-Benz sales rose 13 percent, outpacing rivals Audi and BMW, which saw their registrations drop 9.1 percent and 8.4 percent respectively.

•     Click here for August sales by automaker group and brand

Asian brands had a bad month as Toyota sales fell 1 percent, Hyundai registrations declined by nearly 2 percent and Kia sales dropped by 3.2 percent.

Among PSA brands, Citroen was down 8.1 percent, Opel/Vauxhall 6.9 percent and Peugeot 3.4 percent. DS registrations rose 26 percent.

Volkswagen Group's Skoda brand had a good month with sales up 5.4 percent while Seat registrations fell nearly 1 percent. Porsche sales plunged 18 percent.

Ford sales gained 1.7 percent

The August decline, the steepest of 2019, was made worse by exceptionally high growth in the same month a year earlier as automakers rushed out models ahead of the European Union's new WLTP emissions-testing rules.

Some markets saw exceptional sales increases last August as dealerships stockpiled cars ahead of the September 2018 introduction of WLTP, distorting year-on-year comparisons.

August is also a slow sales month, particularly in Mediterranean countries, accentuating the decline. Sales dropped 31 percent in Spain, 14 percent in France and 3.1 percent in Italy. The German market was down 1 percent while UK registrations dipped 1.6 percent.

Automakers are facing a litany of setbacks, including a risk of a recession in Germany and a slowdown in the Chinese car market.

European sales over the year to date are down 3.2 percent.

Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report