German, British car sales up in March

Consumers in the UK and Germany splashed out on new cars in March, figures released this week have shown, while sales fell in all other major European nations.

British automakers' association the SMMT said April 5 that sales were up by 1.8 percent in March, above expectations.

The jump was caused by the release of new numberplates bearing the model year 12, the SMMT said, as well as 'a wide range of excellent products' which have led to year-on-year rises in the number of new vehicles for four of the past eight months.

The most popular car in the UK was the Ford Fiesta, the figures showed.

Earlier this week, German automakers' body the VDA confirmed that domestic sales in Germany were up 3.5 percent in March and overseas demand for products from German brands such as Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz was up by four percent.

Demand for the products was evident in France, where the number of cars sold fell by 23.5 percent in March, with French automakers faring the worst -- PSA Peugeot-Citroen saw a 33 percent fall and Renault was down 30 percent.

In contrast, German automakers in France outperformed the market, with Volkswagen sales down by just 12 percent and BMW and Mercedes-Benz both seeing sales rises.

Sales in Italy were down by 26.7 percent in March, while Spain's sales were down 4.5 percent.