EU car sales grow in June, up 25% across H1

Car sales rose 10% across the European Union in June and shot up 25% year-on-year in the first half.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, sales hit almost 5.4m vehicles last month.

However, while the figure was higher than its 2020 comparative, it was still 1.5m units weaker than the pre-coronavirus numbers seen over the first half of 2019.

On a nation by nation basis, Germany reported the biggest gain with a 24.5% increase in June, followed by Spain at 17% and Italy at 12.6%. France, however, went the other way, with passenger car sales falling 14.7% last month.

The EU's 27 markets also posted strong results for the year so far, with solid year-on-year gains seen in Italy, up 51%, Spain, 34% stronger, France, 28.9% firmer, and Germany, up 14.9%.