FRANKFORT -- European car sales picked up in July, driven mainly by increased business in the key west of the region, data compiled by the German sector federation VDA showed on Friday.
In all, a total 981,300 new cars were sold in the 27 EU member states in July, 4.9% more than in the year-earlier month, VDA calculated.
Taking the seven months to July as a whole, however, car sales were still down, falling by 5.2% to 7.186 million units, VDA said.
VDA calculated that car sales in Western Europe increased by 4.4% to 954,300 units.
"Following April, that is the second month of growth this year," said VDA chief Matthias Wissmann.
"The positive figures for the western Europe car market in July is a good start for the expected stabilization in the second half of this year," Wissmann said.
"The nascent economic recovery in western Europe is clearly being reflected in the demand for cars."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013
