European car sales were up by 2.4% in June, standing at 1,461,859, according to the latest statistics from ACEA, the European carmakers' association. This is the first increase for 14 months and is said to be mainly due to the introductions of scrappage schemes in many major European markets.

Germany for example showed a huge 40.5% increase, with France up 7% and Austria up 4%. Sales in the UK and Spain were significantly down, while Ireland’s June year on year performance was down 39%.  

Overall for the first half of the year Western European sales are 11% down on last year, with only the German market showing any significant growth. Sales in Ireland have been some of the worst at 62% down on last year for January to June.

However, while the Irish new car market is taking a serious hit now, it might be one of the first to recover, because it has no scrappage scheme. An industry survey by AlixPartners, the corporate turnaround specialists involved in the restructuring of GM, believes that the worst is yet to come in markets such as the UK and Germany, which are presently being protected by scrappage initiatives. AlixPartners believe it will take until 2014 for sales in Europe to recover to 2007 levels.