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Swedish car sales continue to splutter

Published: 1 Jun 09 14:15 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19804/20090601/

Registrations of new cars and trucks continued their decline in May, according to new figures from interest group Bil Sweden.

New registrations of cars declined by 30.6 percent in May 2009 in comparison with the corresponding period of last year, with 18,215 new cars registered during the month.

So far this year new car registrations have declined by a total of 30.4 percent and Bil Sweden has renewed calls for action from the government to arrest the slide in demand.

"Swedish is soon the only country in Europe which has not introduced any measures to boost the vehicle market. It is disappointing that the government does not realize the importance of the automotive market and industry for the Swedish economy," the organization points out in a press release on Monday.

Bil Sweden again pushed for the introduction of a scrap subsidy. The subsidy, they argue, could benefit society by around 10 billion kronor ($1.34 billion) if all cars manufactured before 1996 were replaced by new cars.

New registrations of trucks declined by 42.3 percent in May to 2,710, and have declined by 35.1 percent over the first five months of the year.

Eco-cars accounted for 41.7 percent of all new cars registered, up from 32.3 percent in May 2008. Diesel cars accounted for 36.1 percent, down from 37.8 percent on last year.

Peter Vinthagen Simpson (news@thelocal.se/+46 8 656 6518)

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23:35 June 1, 2009 by Nemesis
Thne only way a subsidy would work, would be to bring Volvo and Saab back into Swedish hands and have the subsidies for Swedish made cars for a temporary period of say 18 months to get the companies and sales past the worst of it.

Then combine Saab with Saab aerospace, while giving all workers a share of company shares in the copany, so as to guarentee there support.

Volvo, it may be an idea to turn it into a flagship stand alone company in Sweden.

Saab and Volvo cars still have a very good international reputation. That could be built upon, while keeping manufacturing in Sweden.

The US owners don't give a damn about Swedish jobs, Swedish work standards, Swedish work ethic or anything else.

In the hands of the Swedish worker, the Swedish work ethic may win through, with some gentle prodding from goverment and cooperation with university engineering departments to research and design the next generation of eco friendly vehicles.
17:01 June 2, 2009 by eZee.se
Better still, buy 30 liters of petrol... get a free car!

:-D
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