Spanish car sales join European signs of recovery

Vehicle sales in France and Spain grew for the fifth consecutive month in January 2014, suggesting that the recovery in the European automotive market is strengthening after a poor run of growth over the past six years.

New vehicle registrations were also recalled for the second consecutive month in Italy, Europe's fourth-largest car market and one of the hardest hit by the economic downturn.

The figures add to broader signs of recovery in the European economy after a long period of weakness that has strongly influenced consumer demand, especially in the region's indebted southern countries.

According to ANFAC, new car sales in Spain in January increased by 7.6% year-on-year to 53,436 vehicles, helped by government subsidies.

In France, Europe's third-largest car market, registrations rose 0.5% to 125,477 vehicles, according to CCFA.

Likewise, new car sales in Italy rose 3.24% in January to 117,802 vehicles, the Transport Ministry said.

"The European automotive market is slowly starting to move in the right direction," said Jonathon Poskitt, Head of European Forecasting for LMC Automotive. Furthermore, sales in Western Europe are directly forecast to increase by 3% to 11.85 million vehicles in 2014.