Back in April, the auto industry rejoiced at the fact that European car sales posted an uptick in sales - the first such increase in nearly two years. That good news was short-lived, however, as data from June shows sales have plummeted down.
According to Bloomberg, about 1.18 million vehicles were registered in Europe in June, representing a 6.3 percent decrease from 2012. These numbers were some of the lowest since the early 1990s, with major countries like Germany experiencing significant decreases.
Many experts are anticipating that the auto market will fall a total of 5 percent in 2013, which would be the sixth straight year of sales drops, the news outlets reports.
"It's still a weak car market, and I don't think that it will get better in the very near future," Sascha Gommel, an analyst in Frankfurt, told the news source. "I wouldn't expect a recovery in the second half, but rather a stabilization at a low level."
Falling sales in Europe could affect drivers in the U.S. The slumping economy could drive up prices of European-made cars, forcing some American motorists to turn to auto repair and vehicle maintenance to extend the lives of existing cars instead of investing in a new ride.