Sterne Agee On European Auto Market

In a report published Sunday, Sterne Agee CRT analyst Michael Ward presented figures for vehicle registrations in Europe. Preliminary data, according to him, has vehicle registrations down 2 percent in the month of May. This decline, however, is expected, given that last month had two fewer selling days than April. Total vehicle registration for the year is up 2 percent after five months of 2015. An East-West Divide Ward's data shows that vehicle registrations in western Europe actually increased by 1 percent in May, but this gain was more than offset by the 14 percent decline in eastern Europe, including a 38 percent drop in Russia. He says that a 7 percent increase in vehicle registrations for the year in western Europe has also been balanced out by a 16 percent hole in the eastern portion of the continent. Wards points out that western European registrations have increased year-over-year in each of the past 21 months. Meanwhile, he says that eastern European registrations have fallen in 16 of the past 17 months, with double-digit declines in each month this year. Within western Europe, the most encouraging signs to the analyst came from the U.K., where registrations jumped by 4 percent despite fewer selling days and are up 8 percent for the year. The U.K. has the richest mix in the auto industry according to Ward, and the British market is particularly important for American manufacturers. In another large western European market, Germany, vehicle registrations were down 7 percent in May, yet still up 4 percent for the year. Ford

, Fiat Chrysler

, and General Motors

have all been trading down today