According to ACEA, the European carmaker's trade body, in the enlarged European Union some 5.1 million vehicles were made between January and March. Of that figure 87 per cent were passenger cars and over half (52.4 per cent) were diesel powered.

Registrations grew at a far slower rate as some mature markets saw volume declines. Germany sufferd a 10 per cent decline as a result of tax changes, France and Spain saw volumes fall by 1.4 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively. Britain and Italy bucked this trend with increases of 2.9 and 4.3 per cent respectively. ACEA forecasters are predicting some market-wide growth in European sales for 2008.