European passenger car registrations continued their recovery in February, growing 14.3% year-on-year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

The only two countries in the EU which failed to grow their car registrations were Greece, where 32.4% less cars were sold in February 2016 than the same month 2015, and the Netherlands, where sales fell 15% over the period.

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Of the so called ‘big five,’ Italian registrations grew the fastest, up 27.3% to 172,241, followed by Spain (up 12.6% to 97,650).

166,728 cars were sold in France in February, up 13% year-on-year, while the German market hit the quarter million mark for the month, after 12% growth. The UK market grew 8.4% year-on-year to 83,395 in February.

By percentage, the Cypriot car market was the fasted growing market, at 76% growth, although the number was comparatively small – just 1,100 cars were registered in the country in February 2016.

Manufacturer performance

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Volkswagen remained the most popular brand in the EU, as it sold 115,075 cars in February, up 4.4% year-on-year.

Renault remained the second largest brand with 75,666 vehicles sold, 10.5% more than February 2015.

Ford saw its sales rise by 19% year-on-year to 71,529. Opel/Vauxhall sales grew by 18.7% to 69,956, overtaking Peugeot which sold 69,767.

The brands which witnessed the highest rates of growth in car sales were Jaguar (184.8%), Honda (48.5%) and Mazda (45.9%).

The VW Group – which includes Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche – was the manufacturer group that sold the most cars in February. 252,629 cars from this group were sold in February marking an 8% year-on-year increase.

The manufacturer group with the highest year-on-year growth in sales was Jaguar Land Rover Group, with a 60.2% rise.