According to figures released on Wednesday by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, new automobile sales in Europe surpassed one million for the first time since June 2021.
In March, there were 1,087,939 new car registrations, a 28.8 percent increase over the same month last year.
Sales increased in all EU countries, but the increases were notably notable in Italy, where sales increased by 40.7 percent, and Spain, where sales increased by 66.1 percent.
However, March 2022 gave a poor baseline for comparison since automobile manufacturers were hampered by a scarcity of semiconductors. The chip shortage has since subsided significantly.
The first three months of the year saw 2.7 million sales, a 17.9 percent rise over the same period last year. Spain led the way with a 44.5 percent increase, followed by Italy with a 26.2 percent increase.
In March, electric vehicles accounted for 13.9 percent of overall sales.
Hybrids accounted for 24.3 percent of the total.
Plug-in hybrids saw their share fall to 7.3 percent year on year, owing mostly to the cessation of incentives for these vehicles in Germany.
Petrol cars increased their market share to 37.5 percent, while diesel vehicles plummeted to 14.5 percent.
Volkswagen maintained its lead among automobile makers, selling 275,753 vehicles across its many brands.