European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association figures show that new car registrations over all European Union countries (excluding Cyprus and Malta, whose data was “unavailable”) rose 3 per cent in February 2010, compared with February 2009. A total of 974,346 new cars were registered in the covered territories. Compared to figures at the same stage of 2009 the small rise in February registrations means that there are 7.9 per cent more new cars on the EU’s roads in 2010. However, given that 2009 was a year in which financial turmoil prevailed, the evidence suggests that this rise has only partially eaten into the drop experienced from 2008; compared to figures recorded in that year, February 2010 has seen 15 per cent fewer registrations and 16 per cent fewer in cumulative year-to-date numbers. Spain, the UK, Italy and France all registered significant increases, while Germany, Romania, Hungary and Poland saw dramatic drops. In the same region, Renault Group, PSA Group (Peugeot and Citroen), Nissan and Kia were the manufacturers with notable increases, while Toyota Group saw a significant drop.