European car market continues to rebound

The once-troubled European car market has just posted its biggest sales rise in six years, with 1.166 million new cars sold in April 2015.

Now in its 20th consecutive month of growth, the European market rose 6.9 per cent from April 2014, in results released yesterday by the industry association, the ACEA.

So far this year, Europeans have bought 4.85 million cars, which is 8.1 per cent up on the same period in 2014.

Far from being in the doldrums, the figures show the old continent has delivered the longest growth streak since the ACEA began compiling records in 1990 as it recovers from the record lows of 2013.

Boom models include the Jeep Renegade, Renault's Captur and, in the premium sector, the BMW X5. Of the major brands, only Seat missed out on the party, dropping 1.1 per cent as it awaits the new, entry-level Ibiza.

The Volkswagen brand rose 5.6 per cent, there was an 18.4 per cent climb at Porsche, 9.5 per cent at Skoda and 3.7 per cent at Audi.

Opel (combined with the rebadged British Vauxhalls) rose 5.7 per cent, Ford rose 2.3 per cent, Renault jumped up 15.3 per cent, Peugeot climbed 5.8 per cent and Citroen edged up by 1.1 per cent.

FCA (the entity once Italian and once known as Fiat Chrysler) leapt 13 per cent on the back of astonishing demand for Jeep (whose volumes tripled), while the new 500X pushed the Fiat brand up 9.7 per cent after months of struggle.

While Mercedes-Benz edged up just three per cent, smart boomed 56 per cent on demand for its all-new fortwo and forfour models. Arch-rival BMW fared better, pouring cars out the door with a 12 per cent rise, mostly on the back of MINI's 34 per cent boom.

Of the other premium hopefuls, Jaguar Land Rover climbed 17 per cent, while Volvo grew 11 per cent.

It wasn't such a happy hunting ground for Japan's traditional heavyweights, with Toyota falling 2.4 per cent and Honda down a shocking 25 per cent.

Nissan, which has deep roots in Europe thanks to its Renault alliance and Daimler technological tie ups, grew 9.3 per cent, while the Koreans both had strong months, with Hyundai up 8.6 per cent and Kia up 6.8 per cent.

The growth came from the big countries, too, with Italy leading the way with a 24 per cent rise. Germany climbed 6.3 per cent, the UK grew 5.1 per cent and Spain and France both had small gains.