JD Power figures show that the West European car market dropped by eight per cent in May, driven by serious weakness in Spain and Italy. That prompted JD Power to downgrade its forecast for annual car sales in Western Europe this year.

What's worse, unlike some earlier months in the year, the fall could not be blamed on seasonal factors but, rather, reflects some genuine signs of weakness, JD Power said.

The most profound fall was in Spain but weakness was also evident in Italy, Germany and Ireland. The market research and forecasting firm said that the European market outlook has worsened slightly for 2008. JD Power's Western European car market forecast is now 14.49m units for 2008 - a 2.1 per cent decline on last year. The forecast for 2009 currently stands at 14.44m units.

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