New car demand in the EU continued to rise with February registrations reaching their highest level since 2008.

In volume terms, last month saw the best February results since 2008.

The figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) show the market grew by 4.3% last month, totalling 1,125,397 units. Nearly all major EU markets posted growth, except for the United Kingdom (-2.8%) – where car sales declined for the 11th consecutive month – Italy (-1.4%) and Spain (+13.0%) recorded the strongest gains, followed by Germany (+7.4%) and France (+4.3%).

For the first two months of the year, registrations were up by 5.8% in the European Union, reaching 2,378,965 units in total. UK demand was down (-5.1%). However, passenger car registrations continued to grow in Spain (+16.4%), Germany (+9.5%) and France (+3.4%) for January and February.