FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Car sales in Western Europe rose 8.1 percent in August, thanks to buoyant demand in Italy, Spain, France and Germany, forecasters LMC Automotive said.
Western Europe sales reached 765,383 passenger cars, LMC Automotive said, basing its forecast on national registration data and its own estimates ahead of the official sales data release by the ACEA association on Sept. 15.
LMC said demand had rebounded from a dip in July, when monthly sales fell for the first time since 2013.
"With one extra working day last month, the West European car market posted a solid result in August, growing by 8.1 percent year-on-year. There were no clear negative signs," LMC Automotive analyst Emiliano Lewis said.
Based on the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR), demand improved to an estimated 13.9 million car sales, LMC said, up from an annual selling rate of 13.4 million cars last month.
Europe's largest markets all saw sales gains year-on-year.
In the Germany, Europe's largest market, August car sales increased by 8.3 percent. Sales in Italy were up 20.1 percent while in France, the third-largest market in Europe, they were up 6.7 percent, LMC data showed.
Demand in the United Kingdom, the region's second largest market, was up 3.3 percent in August, data showed.