Passenger car registrations in the EU reached 3,527,704 in the first quarter of 2015, up 8.6% year-on-year, according to figures released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

All major markets posted growth, contributing to the overall upturn of the EU market. Registrations in Spain and Italy posted double digit growth compared to the first quarter of 2014, up 32.2% and 13.5% respectively, while new car sales also increased in France (+6.9%), the UK (6.8%) and Germany (6.4%).

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Among the rest of the EU countries, the highest growth was recorded in Portugal where registrations increased by 36.1%.

A decrease in registrations was only witnessed in six countries, with the biggest declines recorded in Austria (7.5%) and Luxembourg (3.7%).

Peter Fuss, senior automotive advisory partner at EY’s Global Automotive and Transportation Sector Centre, said: "The European car makers gained further upward momentum in the recent months due to a combination of factors like cheap oil, weakening Euro and an overall positive economic scenario. Unemployment levels have fallen and consumer confidence levels are improving which has increased the discretionary spending levels across the Eurozone.

"However, although economic indicators point in the right direction, political uncertainty – namely with respect to Russia and Greece – remains high and continue to negatively impact growth of car sales within Europe".

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EY expects car sales to increase by 3-4% in 2015, but it is ‘cautious’ that the market will fully recover from the slump witnessed during the financial crisis by the end of the decade.

"We remain cautious about the ability of new car sales to return to their pre-crisis levels by the end of this decade," EY wrote.

Manufacturer performance

Volkswagen remained the most popular brand in the EU, as it sold 421,486 cars in the first quarter of 2015, 10.7% more than the same period in the previous year.

Renault exceeded Opel/Vauxhall in registrations in the Quarter. The former sold 239,403 vehicles while the latter sold 238,754 vehicles. In comparison, Renault sold 213,351 in Q1 2014, while Opel/Vauxhall sold 221,768 in the period. In Q1 2015,Peugeot and Audi sold 217,795 and 186,823 vehicles respectively.

The brands which witnessed the highest rates of growth in car sales were Jeep (206%), Mitsubishi (77.5%) and Porsche (47.2%).

Only three companies saw a drop in sales, Jaguar (14.9%), Honda (2.5) and Suzuki (1.5%).

The VW Group – which includes Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche – was the manufacturer group that sold the most cars in Q1 2015. 856,720 cars from this group were sold in the first three months of the year, marking a 9.3% year-on-year increase.