The European car market is declining more sharply than forecasted, reports the FT.Even the boom in the UK car market slowed down sharply in November, and the UK was the only European country to show significant growth in new car sales this year. The market fell strongly in Germany last month, one of the most important markets, and there was an overall drop of 6.2 percent last month.

The figures for 2002 are now forecast to be 3.9 percent down on last year’s results. However, against this falling market, the Japanese car makers have recorded a 12.5 percent increase in sales, doubling their rate of growth - they now account for over 11 percent of European car sales, up from 9.5 percent last year.

Last month, growth was also recorded by Hyundai and by Land Rover, but a particularly bad time was had by Fiat - down 22 percent - and MG Rover, who saw exports tumble by 60 percent and even its UK sales fall by 18.6 percent.