The European Automobile Manufacturers Association reported that regionwide car sales rose for the first time in a year and a half:

In April, the EU market of new passenger cars grew for the first time (+1.7%) since September 2011. The region counted on average two more working days compared to the same month last year, which would account for the increase. In absolute figures, it is the third lowest level of new registrations for a month of April, with the historic low for April reached in 2012 (1,021,358 units). A total of 1,038,343 units was recorded in the EU in April this year, or 1.7% more compared to the low level of April last year.

The region’s economic superpowers helped:

In April, results were varied across markets. Looking at the major ones, Germany (+3.8%), Spain (+10.8%) and the UK (+14.8%) expanded, while France (-5.3%) and Italy (-10.8%) faced a downturn.

The dog of the region continued to be General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM), which loses hundreds of millions of dollars in Europe each quarter. Sales of its models dropped 4.5% in April to 79,686. Its major rival, Volkswagen, had a good month. Sales rose 9.9% to 274,925.

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