Ford, PSA led European car sales decline in September

[October 17, 2017]  PARIS (Reuters) - French carmaker PSA Group and U.S. competitor Ford led a 2 percent decline in European car sales last month, according to industry data published on Tuesday.

September registrations fell to a combined 1.466 million cars in the European Union and European Free Trade Area (EFTA), the Brussels-based Association of European carmakers said.

Combined sales of PSA brands fell more than 5 percent, with Peugeot, DS and Opel/Vauxhall all recording year-on-year declines. Paris-based PSA acquired Opel earlier this year and began reporting registrations for the German brand in August.

Ford sales dropped 13 percent to 93,288 cars, while EU market leader Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> saw its registrations slip 1.1 percent, weighed down by the VW brand's 3.2 percent drop.

Asian carmakers fared better last month, with Toyota's <7203.T> sales up 1.9 percent and Nissan <7201.T> recording a 3.3 percent gain. Hyundai <005380.KS> rose 2.1 percent as affiliate Kia <000270.KS> jumped 6.5 percent.

(Reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by Matthias Blamont)

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