The European automotive association ACEA has claimed that consumers in western Europe are buying cars once more amid signs that the industry may be picking up.

The Brussels-based association said today (July 11th) that car registrations climbed 2.9 per cent in June from a year ago, the strongest rise so far this year.

Whilst figures for the whole year remain down 2.6 per cent on last year's results some experts, including ACEA itself, are now claiming the worst of the industry downturn may be over.

'This positive (June) result seems to indicate the market is starting to recover after a first half of the year marked by economic and political uncertainties,' said ACEA in a statement.

In addition the imminent launch of new vehicles by a number of manufacturers is set to provide a further boost as Juergen Pieper, an analyst at Metzler Bank in Frankfurt told Reuters: 'I think we will see a stronger second half overall.'

Some manufacturers remain cautious, unwilling to raise expectations for fear of a sudden drop in the economy, but the news closely follows yesterday's (June 10th) announcement from General Motors that it had delivered its best sales performance for June since 1999.