Western European car sales are continuing look shaky with the latest figures from the Association of European Auto Manufacturers (ACEA) illustrating a 3.5% monthly slide on last year's totals.

Statistics show that while Europe's biggest car market, Germany, scored a small increase, the wider picture remains downbeat.

Ten-month sales remain on track for modest growth, with 12.3 million vehicles sold to date, a 1.1% increase on 2003 figures.

Nevertheless, with sales falling for the fourth month in a row - down to 1.14 million vehicles compared to 1.18 million in October 2003 - concerns are likely to be building over the state of the industry.

Peugeot was among the big losers, seeing its sales slide 12%, with world number one General Motors also struggling at the moment.