New car sales jumped in Western Europe in September according to the latest figures from carmaker association ACEA.

The Brussels-based organisation said that sales had risen by 4.4 per cent in the region, with the total number of cars sold in the first nine months of the year now standing at 11.0 million.

Whilst still a 1.5 per cent drop from a year ago, the figures have strengthened belief that the industry may finally be on the long road to recovery.

ACEA cited strengthening consumer confidence in some countries, as well as price incentives as the main sources of the rise in demand.

'September is traditionally a month when incentives are introduced to restart business after the summer holidays,' a spokesman for ACEA said, adding it was too early to be too optimistic that recovery was on the way.

Analysts say they expect a period of recovery to continue, before European demand for automobiles returns to its normal levels some time in 2004 as economic conditions improve.