Of the five largest car markets in Europe, France, Germany and Great Britain record an increase in sales during October, while only France and Germany have seen an increase year-to-date.

Within the top 10 brands Volkswagen, Ford and Audi continue to perform strongly, with sales increases of 5.8%, 6.0% and 2.1% respectively during October. The remainder of the top 10 brands experienced a decrease during October compared to last year, including BMW and Mercedes, both of which have positive sales figures year-to-date however.

Outside the top ten, Hyundai recorded a 17.5% increase in sales, with sister brand Kia recording a 23.5% increase in October and year-to-date the two brands are 12.7% and 7.7% ahead of last year. There’s also a positive story for Land Rover with sales growing by 54.6% in October, largely driven by deliveries of the new Evoque.

Within the top 10 models Volkswagen’s Passat continues to be very popular, experiencing the biggest growth, up 48.4% in October and by 35.1% year- to-date.

Commenting on the findings, Gareth Hession, vice president, research at JATO, said: ‘The decline in October sales may be slight, but is evidence that the market is still at the mercy of European economic conditions. Despite this, however, positive sales of models such as the Passat demonstrate strong products are still appealing to customers across Europe.’