Saab sales in Sweden near rock bottom

Car dealers in Sweden are continuing to suffer from the economic downturn, with new registrations in July down 13.9 percent on figures for the corresponding period last year, according to new figures from interest group Bil Sweden.

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With new car registrations totalling 14,551 in July, sales for the year so far are 25 percent lower than in 2008.

But Bil Sweden's CEO, Bertil Moldén, remains optimistic.

"There is much to suggest that we have got over the worst," he said in a statement.

While the drop in registrations was more pronounced in July than in June, Moldén believes this can be explained by the fact that "a lot of people pushed forward their purchases of green cars before the phasing out of the green car bonus on July 1st."

Volvos topped the table of newly registered automobiles in July, with 2,985 cars leaving the showrooms, up 13 percent on the same month in 2008.

But Saab dealers saw their woes continue, with just 391 new cars registered in July, down a whopping 71.8 percent on July last year. Sales for the year so far are down 63.9 percent on figures for 2008.

Bertil Moldén called on the Swedish government to take greater steps to stimulate the auto industry.

"Although we can see a levelling off of the sharp drop on the auto market we are still way below normal levels for car registrations," he said.

New truck registrations dropped to 1,861 in July, 34.1 percent lower than for the same period last year but in line with a 33.6 percent drop for the year so far.