D'Ieteren cuts forecast amid gloomy economic outlook

BRUSSELS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Belgium's largest car distributor D'Ieteren (IETB.BR) reported a 6 percent rise in third-quarter auto sales on Monday but cut its full-year outlook amid unfavourable macroeconomic conditions.

The company said it expected 2008 pre-tax profit to be slightly lower year-on-year due to "unfavourable macroeconomic headwinds". The group had previously forecast roughly stable pre-tax profit this year.

The global financial crisis has hit car makers hard, with many companies halting production temporarily due to falling demand.

D'Ieteren's car brands achieved a 20.36 percent market share in the third quarter and 19.42 percent year-to-date, compared to 19.10 percent for the first half of 2008, the group said in a statement. New car registrations in Belgium amounted to 110,034 units in the third quarter, stable compared to the same period last year. Year-to-date, new car registrations were up 5 percent.

The group said D'Ieteren Auto is now expecting a market share slightly below 20 percent in 2008.

D'Ieteren, which has a majority stake in Europe's biggest car rental company Avis (AVE.L) and Belron, a vehicle glass repair and replacement business, said it continued to expect organic sales growth for the rest of the year at Belron.

D'Ieteren distributes the Volkswagen (VOWG.DE), Seat, Audi, Skoda, Bentley, Porsche (PSHG_p.DE) and Lamborghini brands. (Reporting by Antonia van de Velde; Editing by Hans Peters)