European Car Sales Drop 18% as Recession Hits Once-Booming East

European car sales plunged 18 percent in February as the global recession stifled demand for Opel, Mercedes-Benz and BMW models, especially in the once-booming eastern part of the continent.

Registrations fell to 968,159 vehicles last month from 1.19 million a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said in a statement today. It was the sharpest February drop since the organization began recording data in 1990 and follows a 27 percent drop in January, which was the steepest in a contraction that’s extended to 10 months.