Industry figures show that European new car sales slumped in January to the lowest level for 20 years.
Sales fell by 27% in January from the figure for January last year, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said.
The annual sales plunge was even worse than the 25.8% recorded in December, with new car registrations totalling 958,517.
The ACEA figures came as it emerged that the euro zone economy shrank by 1.5% in the last quarter of 2008.
Earlier this week, European car makers urged EU nations to step up and co-ordinate action to help their industry through the economic crisis with car production set to slide further as the year progresses.
'The measures that the EU has agreed upon so far are insufficient to meet the needs of our industry,' said Carlos Ghosn, president of the European car industry's ACEA trade association. The sector employs 2.2 million people throughout Europe directly and 10 million indirectly.
