January figures show new car sales continue to plummet

The public bought less than 22,000 new cars in January, which is considerably less than in January 2004 when the figure was 29,300. Dealers were unable to win over clients with numerous bargains and price reductions. Even the most optimistic dealers felt the slump in car sales. "We never thought sales figures would fall so much. We hoped that the beginning of the year would be better," said Sebastian Pechman, a Skoda dealer in Warsaw. "We noted a sales decrease of about 15% as compared to January 2004. However, considering the condition of the auto sector we should look at this as quite good result," said Maciej Stengert from Bemo Motors, a Poznań based Ford dealer. Many of those on the market looking to make a car purchase did so back in December when price promotions for cars produced in 2004 started. Many blame the low spending power of the public on falling sales. "People simply do not have the money," said Roman Kantorski, president of the Polish Chamber of Automotive Industry (PIM), adding that he believes that the car market is also being spoiled by the mass influx of used cars from the EU. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 4) D.W.