Car registrations down 54.4% - The Best from Greece

Car registrations dropped 54.3 percent in March this year, compared with the same month in 2010, for a decline of 54.4 percent in the first quarter of 2011, the Hellenic Statistical Authority said on Tuesday.

The statistics service, in a report, said passenger car sales dropped 55.2 percent in March for a decline of 55.8 percent in the January-March period.

Car registrations totalled 34,145 in the first three months of the year, after an increase of 16 percent in the corresponding period in 2010.

New motorcycle registrations totalled 9,373 in the first quarter, down 21.4 percent from the same period in 2010, after a decline of 6.8 percent in the corresponding period last year.

The domestic car market shows no signs of recovery despite the fact that the government is implementing a programme offering incentives to scrap old technology cars.