Car sales across Europe continued to rise as they entered the eighth consecutive month of growth, with a 4.2% increase in year-on-year sales in April according to data provider JATO Dynamics.

Backing up figures from European motor trade body the ACEA, the JATO figures confirm that 25 out of the 30 European markets surveyed saw growth year-to-date and that 14 of those were double digit growth rates.

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The Netherlands was one of the markets to see a decline in sales as the economic woes of the country continued to affect consumer confidence and drive down demand for new cars. With a fall of 6.7% in the year to the end of April, it saw the worst decline in sales of any of the countries surveyed.

Spain’s economic policies of austerity may have proved unpopular at home over the past few years but consumer confidence had returned sufficiently by the end of April to push sales up for by 29.4% the month compared to the year before. This helped total year-to-date sales grow 17.3% to over 286,000 vehicles.

Germany’s growth during 2014 came to a halt in April, with sales sliding 3.6% to 274,097. The year-to-date therefore showed only an anaemic level of growth in Europe’s largest car market, up 2.9% to the end of April.

Germany’s main car manufacturer Volkswagen also saw a reverse in fortunes in April with a drop off in sales of 0.6%, despite the increased popularity of its flagship Golf model, which saw an increase in sales of 15.3% year-on-year in April. This may be due to an aging fleet of models, including the Polo, which saw a decline of 8.1% in sales in April compared to April 2013.

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Škoda’s Octavia saw the strongest growth in sales, 45.1%, to take the position of the tenth most popular model in Europe.

French car maker Renault saw a return to health with a 10.6% increase in sales for the year to the end of April, helped by the Renault Clio’s sales and the introduction of new models, such as the Captur, during the intervening period.

Troubled car maker Peugeot did see an increase in sales in April, up 6.4%, but its supermini class 208 dropped nearly 19% in the month, possibly as customers loyal to the brand switched the newly released 2008 crossover model.

Gareth Hession, vice president of research at JATO Dynamics, said: "April was another strong month for the European car market, building on the great start made in the first quarter. Four months into the year and almost half of the 30 countries we analyse are showing double-digit growth for the year. With the German market expected to bounce back after its Easter lull, we think this positive performance will continue for the rest of the second quarter."