However, the organisation added that the total registrations of 861,058 units marked the second lowest result to date for a month of February since it began the series in 2003 with the enlarged EU. 

From January to February, new passenger car registrations increased by 6.6%, totalling 1,796,787 units. 

In February 2014, France was the only major market to face a downturn (-1.4%). All other significant markets contributed positively to the overall 8.0% increase in the EU, with growth ranging from +3.0% in the UK, +4.3% in Germany, +8.6% in Italy to +17.8% in Spain. 

Two months into the year, most major markets posted growth contributing to the overall 6.6% upturn of the EU market. Demand for new passenger cars increased by 5.7% in Germany, 6.0% in Italy, 6.1% in the UK and 13.1% in Spain. France (-0.5%) was the only significant market where new passenger car registrations declined in this period.