German October car sales down 5.6 percent, fewer selling days

BERLIN (Reuters) - German car sales declined 5.6 percent in October from the same month a year earlier, the country's motor transport authority said on Thursday, weighed down by fewer selling days.

Registrations fell to 262,724 passenger cars last month, the KBA motor vehicle authority said on Wednesday, confirming a Reuters story, while 10-month sales in Europe's biggest auto market were up 4.9 percent at 2.82 million cars.

Adjusted for the effect of two fewer selling days, registrations in October actually rose by around 5 percent, a source told Reuters earlier.

Most major carmakers reported declines with sales at market leader Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and Ford (F.N) down 20 percent and 8 percent respectively, while French rivals Peugeot (PEUP.PA) and Renault were up 12 percent and 3.4 percent, KBA said.

In other key European markets, France posted a 4-percent drop in October registrations to 155,202 vehicles while sales in Spain rose by the same margin to 83,248 cars.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Tina Bellon/Jeremy Gaunt)