LATEST sales figures for new cars across Europe show a slight increase on the same period last year.

Sales in Europe as a whole were up by 0.6% for the months to January to April, with most regions posting an increase.

But sales were down slightly among the EU new members and the European Fair Trade Association (EFTA).

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association also produced figures for the month of April, which compared to the same month last year, had two or three fewer working days so resulted in all main regions posting losses, the biggest in the EU15 and EFTA, down by 7.6%.

Country		Jan-April 06		Jan-April 05		Variance
Austria		108,854		108,657		+0.2%
Belgium		228,792		196,034		+16.7%
Denmark		49,032		46,348		+5.8%
Finland		56,059		57,223		-2.0%
France		708,149		720,884		-1.8%
Germany		1,082,016		1,068,975		+1.2%
Greece		99,579		104,113		-4.4%
Ireland		111,989		105,036		+6.6%
Italy		886,976		840,195		+5.6%
Luxembourg		19,728		19,924		-1.0%
Netherlands		196,896		191,680		+2.7%
Portugal		69,153		69,906		-1.1%
Spain		502,534		507,307		-0.9%
Sweden		87,065		85,274		+2.1%
UK		832,422		880,962		-5.5%
EU15		5,039,244		5,002,518		+0.7%
Iceland		6,609		5,132		+28.8%
Norway		32,972		35,282		-6.5%
Switzerland		87,113		88,039		-1.1%
EFTA		126,694		128,453		-1.4%
Czech Republic		37,773		40,512		-6.8%
Estonia		7,369		6,372		+15.6%
Hungary		62,021		58,669		+5.7%
Latvia		6,604		4,251		+55.4%
Lithuania		4,054		3,248		+24.8%
Poland		78,466		85,316		-8.0%
Slovakia		18,044		16,857		+7.0%
Slovenia		22,413		22,025		+1.8%
EU new members		236,744		237,250		-0.2%
Total Europe		5,402,682		5,368,221		+0.6%