About 4.13 million cars were sold across Europe in the first quarter, the ACEA said in a statement, as Europe slowly recovers from an economic downturn that hit carsales last year.
Germany's Volkswagen AG and Italy's Fiat Spa profited most from the first quarter upswing, while France's Peugeot PSA, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.'s sales stayed flat and Renault SA lost market share, the figures showed.
VW sold the most cars, 783,818 units, a 12.5 percent increase on the same period last year. Fiat's sales rose by 16.7 percent to 327,688. Peugeot, Europe's second largest carmaker, sold 564,171 cars _ no percentage change from last year.
Ford sales fell slightly by 0.3 percent as poor results from its Volvo and Jaguar brands dragged down healthier Land Rover sales. GM also reported a small drop _ of 0.2 percent _ as its core European brands Opel and Vauxhall reported fewer sales.
High-end cars sold well as BMW AG's overall sales increased 7 percent and DaimlerChrysler AG went up 4.7 percent.
Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. reported a 30 percent boost but the carmaker still remains a minor player in the European market.
Germans are still Europe's main car buyers, buying close to 800,000 cars in the first three months, but booming economies in Eastern Europe are showing a growing taste for new cars.
Latvian sales more than doubled, while Estonian sales climbed a fifth and Lithuania increased 16 percent.