Car sales in Europe rose significantly during the first three months of the year, according to new figures.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association states that sales were up 3.2 per cent on the same period last year at 4.13 million vehicles.

German firm Volkswagen (VW) and Italy's Fiat were the two main beneficiaries of the first quarter improvement, thought to be largely due to the steady Europe-wide economic recovery.

VW sales were up 12.5 per cent on the first quarter of 2005 to 783,818 cars with Fiat rising by 16.7 per cent to 327,688 units, although Renault reported a drop in sales.

Eastern European figures were particularly strong, with Latvian sales double that of a year earlier and Estonian and Lithuanian purchases up by a fifth and 16 per cent, respectively.

Germany remains Europe's top car buyer, notching up almost 800,000 purchases between January and March.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd