BERLIN: New car registrations in Europe rose 7 percent in February, industry data showed, fuelled by double-digit sales growth in Italy and Spain, and as demand shifted from no-frills makes like Dacia towards mass market brands like Volkswagen and Renault.
New registrations in the European Union (EU) and countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) rose to 958,145, data from the Association of European Carmakers (ACEA) showed on Tuesday.
Car sales in the European Union rose for 18 months in a row, ACEA said, adding that all major markets grew, with sales in Spain up 26 percent, while registrations rose 12 percent in the United Kingdom and 13.2 percent in Italy.
Registrations in the biggest markets, Germany and France, were up 6.6 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively.
For Renault Group sales in the EU and EFTA bloc jumped 9.8 percent, boosted mainly by a 14.4 percent surge in sales of Renault branded cars, while registrations of its no-frills Dacia brand fell 0.5 percent during the same period.
Demand for Skoda-branded cars was up 8 percent, in a sign of slower demand for some of Europe’s cheaper brands. In February last year, sales of Skoda and Dacia were up 21.5 percent and 33.6 percent respectively.
Europe’s best selling car brand was Volkswagen, which recorded a 12.8 percent rise in registrations to 105,942 passenger cars last month.
Sales of Fiat cars and those of Opel and its sister brand Vauxhall cars rose 5.1 percent and 6 percent respectively, during the same period, ACEA data showed.
