JD Power says West European May car sales fell 8%

PARIS, June 6 (Reuters) - Automotive forecasting firm J.D. Power on Friday estimated May new car sales fell 8 percent in western Europe, driven by weakness in Spain and Italy, and added the 2008 outlook had worsened.

"The decline was not seasonal since there were a similar number of selling days in May 2008 compared with 2007," it added.

It said the most profound fall was in Spain, but weakness was also evident in Italy, Germany and Ireland.

There remain some bright spots such as markets in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

"It is probably too early to conclude that we are about to see a pronounced downturn emerge, but the outlook has worsened slightly for 2008," it added.

JD Power sees 2008 car sales in the 17 West European nations down 2.1 percent at 14.49 million cars.

The ACEA European car industry association will publish the May data on June 13. (Reporting by Marcel Michelson, editing by Will Waterman)