EU car sales suffering, says Ford UK chair

Ford Britain chairman, Joe Greenwell, has described the EU car sales market as 'tough'.

Speaking exclusively to WM, Greenwell said: "Due to problems with the Eurozone, this year has seen a slump in demand, particularly from Spain and Italy, with last month [June] seeing an 8 per cent reduction." Latest figures from the Association of European Automakers (ACEA) show that car sales across the EU were down 8.7 per cent in May this year. Greenwell blamed the decline on 'over capacity' with too many cars being produced and too few buyers. However, he added: "Fortunately for us, we are not entirely dependent on the EU market." Meanwhile, according to the ACEA sales were up in the UK with an increase of 2.6 per cent.