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MILAN, Nov 14 (Reuters) - European new car registrations suffered their second biggest fall of the year in October, down 14.5 percent, as the credit crunch and worsening economy discouraged people from making such a big household purchase.
"New car registrations have now decreased for six consecutive months, most notably since the summer," read a statement from ACEA, the association which represents car makers in Europe and publishes the numbers every month.
With demand falling fast and unsold vehicles filling up their lots, car makers are frantically cutting costs to stop burning cash, including halting production at their plants for periods of several weeks.
The biggest fall this year occurred in August when registrations tumbled 15.6 percent.
For the 27 member states of the European Union and the EFTA countries, registrations totalled 1,134,031 units in October, down 14.5 percent, according to ACEA.
Since January, the number has fallen 5.4 percent to 12,852,387.
In western Europe, registrations were down 15.5 percent to 1,034,955. The worst performers were Ireland -- down 54.6 percent -- and Spain, off 40 percent to the lowest level since 1995, ACEA said.
Germany, the region's biggest market, fell 8.2 percent.
The country's automotive industry association, VDA, had anticipated the number by a day. Late on Thursday, it said the western European market had contracted at its fastest rate this year.
"Internal demand has for the moment surpassed its zenith," it said in a statement.
Among new European Union member states, once the source of growth for many car makers, registrations went down more than 3 percent. Poland, however, went up 12.3 percent.
Among the top five manufacturers by market share, General Motors, with brands such as Opel and Vauxhall, took the biggest hit, down 25.2 percent.
Volkswagen had the smallest fall, down 7.6 percent. (Reporting by Gilles Castonguay; Editing by David Holmes)