Berlin  - Asian carmakers lead a fall in German vehicle sales last year, data released Tuesday showed, with the giant Japanese auto group Toyota Motor Corporation reporting a 27-per-cent sales plunge in Europe's biggest auto market during 2008.

Along with Toyota, Japanese rivals Mitsubishi, Mazda and Honda also reported steep falls, Germany's vehicle registration office (KBA) said Tuesday, as the growing sense of economic uncertainty hit Germany's key car sector.

Korean carmaker's new German car registrations slumped by 15 per cent last year.

The release of the figures showing Toyota German sales' slump came after the carmaker announced that it was planning to suspend production at its domestic plants for
11 days in the coming months and forecast its first-ever operating loss.

Releasing its latest figures, the KBA said new car registrations in Germany dropped by 6.6 per cent in December compared to the same month last year.

New registrations in Europe's biggest economy declined to about 226,000 vehicles, the KBA said after they plunged by about 18 per cent in November.

Full-year new car registrations in Germany dropped by 1.8 per cent to 3.01 million vehicles, the KBA said.

But while leading European carmakers such as Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Daimler recorded modest increases in car registrations last year, Mazda reported a 14.3-per-cent fall and Mitsubishi posted a 18.7 per cent drop.

Japanese carmakers Nissan and Hyundai also bucked the trend with new German car registrations rising by 10.0 per cent and 8.7 per cent respectively.

Fiat's new car registrations in Germany raced ahead by 19.4 per cent last year highlighting the success of the Italian carmaker's new models.

The KBA data also showed German-based Volkswagen, which is also Europe's biggest carmaker, again holding the biggest share of Germany's auto market with 20 per cent of new registrations last year.

Luxury carmakers Mercedes Benz and BMW came in second and third with market shares of 10.6 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively.

Toyota had a 3.1 per cent of the German car market last year, the KBA said. (dpa)