THE share of diesel among new car sales in Europe fell during the first two months of the year, new analysis has shown.

Produced by Jato Dynamics, it found that diesel penetration of sales in the EU and European Fair Trade Association (EFTA) markets during January and February was 50.7%, down 0.3% compared with the same period in 2005.

The UK noted a slight increase of 0.4% during January and February compared to the same period last year.

A spokesman said: ‘The added cost of meeting the EU’s Euro IV diesel emissions standards has helped to widen the gap between the price of diesel and petrol variants.

‘Diesel penetration of new car sales in the EU and EFTA region, which grew at an average rate of 7.5% a year in 2003-05, is now showing signs of stalling.’