UK new car sales fall 21.9% in February
As the UK authorities continue to hold off supporting the UK car manufacturing and car retail sectors the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has reported a reduction of 21.9% in new car sales in February. This is a bitter blow for an industry which is literally in the last chance saloon and attempting to place severe pressure on the UK authorities to bail them out. So far the authorities have refused to give in to demands for extra funding, or guaranteed loans, but with tens of thousands of jobs at risk the pressure is building.
This latest blow for the industry comes just days after GM Europe formally requested £3 billion of state aid from the UK authorities only to be rebuked in a fairly unhelpful fashion. However, behind the scenes it appears that GM Europe is still hopeful of a rescue plan funded by the UK authorities with taxpayer's money. The headlines over the last few days do not make good reading for the UK government with more and more money going towards the financial sector apparently to the detriment of every other sector in the UK economy.
Can Gordon Brown really afford to cut adrift every sector in the UK except finance?
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