EU new car sales up 5.9 per cent in Oct

Rome: Sales of new cars in the European Union rose last month by 5.9 per cent on a yearly basis, to almost 1.17 million units,industry data showed on Thursday. It was the best October sales figure since 2009, and reversed a slight drop registered in September, the European Automobile Manufactures Association (ACEA) said in a statement. The market was buoyant in all major EU markets, with notable sales increases of 13.7 per cent in both Spain and France, while Britain was an exception, with a 12.2 per cent fall. In the January-October period, more than 12.8 million cars were sold in the EU, 3.9 per cent more than in the same period of 2016. — dpa