General Motors sees European sales slide

Opel and Vauxhall sales in Europe have dropped over 6 per cent during the first nine months of 2008, according to owner General Motors.

GM's prestige Saab brand was hit even harder, its European sales dropping 16.7 per cent during the three quarters to October.

The American manufacturer pointed to the economic downturn's effect on consumer spending as the reason for the drop.

GM's overall sales across Europe fell by 1.9 per cent to just over 1.6 million vehicles - its market share, meanwhile, went down 0.2 percentage points to 9.3 per cent.

The manufacturer said strong growth in Central and Eastern Europe had helped stabilise its sales figures.

The brand also said Chevrolet was faring reasonably well.

Earlier this week GM announced it was cutting vehicle production in Europe by 40,000 vehicles and the company has extended temporary shut-downs at its Luton plant.

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