Figures released by ACEA have confirmed that new car sales in the EU declined by 5% year-on-year in March.

ACEA said that over the first quarter, demand for new cars in the EU decreased by 2.3%, with 3,583,185 units registered.

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The March results showed divergent sales performances in national markets with France up 6.1%, Germany up11.4% while the UK market was down 7.9% and Italy off 27.6% on last year’s pace as the loss of scrappage schemes was felt

Spain’s market was down a whopping 29.1% on last year.

Market leader Volkswagen Group showed a 3.8% increase in group sales in March.

Figures released by JATO Dynamics showed that Fiat saw the biggest decline out of the regions’ top ten brands in the first quarter, down 25.3%, largely reflecting the poor performance of its home market, Italy.

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JATO said that outside the top ten brands a number of premium brands experienced strong sales for the quarter, including Alfa-Romeo and Porsche, up 49.6% and 26.5% respectively, largely due to strong sales of the new Giulietta and latest Cayenne models.

All of the regions’ top ten models experienced a decline or no growth in sales during Q1 2011. Volkswagen’s Golf maintains its leading position, while second place Ford Fiesta saw the biggest decline in sales, down 27.7%.

However, as a press release from Ford notes, the Fiesta remained the top selling small car in Europe in the first quarter – its decline versus year-ago levels is against a high comparison base.

“We are pleased about the Fiesta’s continued success, not only because it’s our highest volume model in Europe, but also because it is now being produced and sold around the world to great acclaim,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe.

During March, Volkswagen Polo was the only model to increase sales, up 4.2%, while Ford’s Fiesta saw the biggest decline, down 26.9%.

See also, published earlier this month: UK: Western European car market down 5% in March

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