LATEST analysis of European new car sales shows that registrations for the year are up by 2.1% on the same period in 2003.

The Golf continues to be the best seller, with sales up 6% year-to-date, and the mini-MPV sector continues to experience dramatic growth, according to data produced by JATO Dynamics, with sales up by more than 30% year-to-date.

But the full-size MPV segment is in continuous decline with year-to-date sales down by almost 6.3%.

JATO's research also found that the mini segment achieved a year-to-date growth of more than 2.6%, with the Fiat Panda leading the way with sales up by 110.5% so far this year. Although the lower-medium sector was up by 8% in August, compared to the same month in 2003, year-to-date sales are down by more than 1%.

The upper-medium sector is showing signs of recovery, having increased sales during August by more than 5%, although year-to-date sales are down by more than 5.5%.

A JATO spokesman said: 'The Volkswagen Passat leads the segment but the Peugeot 407 leapt from fourth to second place with registrations more than twice those achieved by the 406 in August 2003.'