In total, 1,058,868 new cars were registered in the EU. Registrations were up in a majority of countries, ranging from +0.3% in Slovakia to +62.1% in Portugal. Among the larger markets, France (+14.3%), Spain (+18.1%), the UK (+29.8%) and Italy (+30.2%) all fared better than in January 2009.

Germany (-4.3%) was the only major market to decline, with results reflecting the discontinuation of the country's fleet renewal programme in the autumn of last year. In addition, the Romanian market decreased by 84.6%.

However, compared to January 2008, registrations last month were down by 17.3%.