European car buyers shrug off record fuel prices

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Frankfurt, Aug 18 : engines.

But the pace of improvements has slowed recently as European consumers began buying more powerful cars and regulations require more safety equipment that adds weight to vehicles. While sales of “A” segment small cars, such as the Fiat Panda, are growing and the next-larger “B” segment led by the Peugeot 206 is shrinking, JATO’s Hall said it was hard to tell if this reflected a conscious choice or simply new models. Neither segment has seen big shifts towards diesel engines, which peaked in popularity in Europe in February and has since been coming down, Hall said.

Helmut Bluemer, spokesman for the German car dealers organisation, said a debate about the health impact of soot from unfiltered engines had crimped demand for diesels.

He also suggested high fuel prices were boosting demand for less-powerful engines, as shown by Germany’s used car market.