Swedish car sales continue to splutter

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

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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.