European car sales up

New vehicle registrations were up in January – but showed Volkswagen is still suffering.

The market showed its 29th consecutive month of growth according to figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, to 1.06 vehicles in January – a 6% gain year-on-year.

Volkswagen continues to be hit in that market from its on-going emissions scandal, and reported its fifth loss of market share.

The German carmaker did record a sales rise of 0.8% in Europe and a 0.7% increase in Western markets, however, with the VW brand’s sales figures 4% lower across the whole of Europe and 14% lower in the UK.

The Volkswagen Group market share has fallen from 25.6% to 24.3% over the last year.

Audi bucks that trend, recording a 14% sales gain for January.