THE number of new car registrations across the European Union for the year so far were mixed, with 12 countries posting increases and the remaining 11 countries contributing to a fall of more than 2%. The fall in registrations of 2.3% is partly blamed on the economy as the number of working days was the same.

A spokesman for the European Automobile Manufacturer's Association (ACEA) said: 'This result points out a slow start of the year, in an economic context that remains sluggish.' A total of 12 countries posted increases for the first two months of the year, ranging from +33.9% in Latvia to +2.1% in the Czech Republic, while 11 reported losses, ranging from -29.1% in Poland to -0.6% in Belgium.

The ACEA also released figures for registrations during the month of February. Across Europe, they amounted to 1,050,725, which represents a fall of 4.1% compared to the same month last year.