Brussels, 13/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - In a press release published on Thursday, the European Association of Car Manufacturers (ACEA) revealed a fall in the sale of new cars in Europe during the month of August. The registration of new cars fell by an average of 7% in Western European countries (EU, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland) compared to prices a year ago. The average fall in the EU was 6.8%. The "large countries" in the Euro-zone experienced the largest falls. Germany, victim of floods, saw sales plunge by 3.3% after a 1.9% rise in July. In France, registrations plunged by 17.7% in August after a 4.2% fall in July. In Spain sales dropped by 6% in July and 10.4% in August. In contrast, the United Kingdom and Denmark, which don't belong to the Euro-zone, recorded respective increases of 7.3% and 14.4%. The ACEA believes that he fall in registrations during August can partially be explained by the floods that devastated many regions in Europe but a number o economists see it as a sign of the slow down in individual consumption, which is incapable of driving forward a rise in growth.