BRUSSELS - New car sales in Europe slumped 14.5 percent in October, the sixth consecutive monthly drop as the economic crisis takes hold, the European automakers association ACEA announced Friday.

Over the first 10 months of the year, new car sales have fallen by 5.4 percent compared with the same period in 2007.

"Reflecting the financial and economic crisis, new car registrations have now decreased for six consecutive months," the association said in a report.

In total, 1.134 million new cars were registered in October in the 28 countries reviewed - the 27 EU member states, minus Cyprus and Malta but plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

Only the Austrian car market avoided the sales drop, while Ireland and Spain crashed down 54.6 percent and 40 percent respectively in October compared to the same month last year. The Spanish figures were at their lowest for 13 years.

The gloomy car sales news was released on the day that broader economic data was expected to show the 15-nation eurozone officially in recession.

Last month, steel giant ArcelorMittal announced that it was shutting down furnaces at a dozen sites across Europe for at least six months in response to a sharp fall in demand from crisis-hit carmakers.

French car maker PSA Peugeot-Citroen has ordered a 30 percent production cut in response to a collapse in European sales while Renault is to temporarily shut down several factories in France and Europe as the global financial crisis undercuts the economy.

The car registration figures were less grim, according to the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), in the mainly eastern European new member state markets, with sales down 3.3 percent in October.

The Polish market was up 12.3 percent over October 2007.

All main carmakers saw their sales drop with Chrysler, already a relatively small player in Europe, seeing its figures fall by a whopping 49.4 percent.

General Motors, the biggest US carmaker, saw its October sales fall by a little over 25 percent.

Germany's Volkswagen sold the most cars in Europe last month, with 249,948 new vehicles registered, a drop of 7.6 percent over the same month last year.