Jato Dynamics recorded 38,493 sales of the small car during the month - equivalent to a 23 per cent year-on-year increase.

The Golf slipped to second with sales of 36,032 units and the Renault Clio came third, with 29,007 units.

The Fiat Punto suffered a huge drop of 17.5 per cent but was still Europe's sixth bestselling model during the month.

Mercedes and BMW both posted volume increases of 21 per cent over the same period last year thanks to the recovering German market.

“The February market was particularly strong thanks to the extra trading day afforded by the leap year and also because the French market recovered from the short-lived decline brought about by taxation changes early in the year,” said Nasir Shah, global business development director at Jato.