January Car Sales in Europe Jump 6%

Carmakers sold 1.03 million passenger vehicles across Europe last month compared with 968,500 deliveries in January 2014, industry group ACEA reports.

All five of the region's largest markets posted gains: Germany (+3% to 211,300 units), the U.K. (+7% to 164,900), France (+6% to 133,200), Italy (+11% to 131,400) and Spain (+28% to 68,100).

January's increase was led by Volkswagen Group (+7% to 262,900 units), Renault Group (+10% to 96,900), Ford (+5% to 70,200) and FCA (+6% to 63,500). Last month's volumes declined 2% to 110,000 for PSA and 4% to 64,000 for Opel Group.

In the luxury car segment, Mercedes-Benz outsold BMW's namesake brand 51,800 to 51,600. Jaguar Land Rover group sales fell 4% to 11,000 vehicles.

Asia's biggest carmakers reported sales increases in Europe last month. Volume was led by Toyota (+9% to 51,200 units), Nissan (+34% to 44,300), Hyundai (+7% to 33,200) and Kia (+6% to 26,000).