EU car sales bounce back in February

(BRUSSELS) - New car sales in Europe rebounded in February, rising 0.9 percent on an annual comparison to break a 10-month streak of falling demand, industry figures showed Wednesday.

A total of 981,429 new cars were registered last month across the European Union, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).

In Europe's two biggest markets, German new car sales rose 15.2 percent to 224,426 and France gained 13.2 percent to 204,400 in February.

Sales fell in other major markets, dropping 7.7 percent to 63,424 in Britain, 20.5 percent to 160,329 in Italy and 27.6 percent to 66,120 in Spain.

The last time car sales rose overall in the EU was in March 2010, when they increased by 10.8 percent.

The end of "cash-for-clunkers" programmes, which had been offered to prop up the industry during the global recession, had caused sales to fall every month since then -- by as much as 18.6 percent in July and 16.6 percent in October.