Looking at a chart that tracks January through August registrations since 2003 (the first year after the EU’s enlargement) we see that times are much worse than the dark days of carmageddon. Sales started to fall in 2008, and never really stopped declining until the small pop this year. Sadly, sales are likely to go down further. Declining EU populations, especially in the main new car buying age between 40 and 60, will cause increasing pain. Manufacturers have to fight for volume not by unsustainable discounting, but by developing offers that are attractive and affordable for a younger and cash-poor clientele that has long traded Gucci for H&M, and that is now trading Dacia for Daimler.