European car sales for the first six months of 2018 reached 8.66 million cars, the highest number of first-half registrations this century.

The buoyant market has been boosted by the ever-growing popularity of SUVs, while registrations of other vehicle types fell by 4%, SUVs saw a huge jump of 24%, with 2.92 million registrations.

Volkswagen have been the biggest beneficiary of the SUV’s popular status, the new T-Roc has already achieved the title as one of the best-selling SUVs and is 32nd overall best-selling car in Europe.

Jato global analyst Felipe Munoz said: “Car makers continue to update and modernise their traditional models, while the range of SUVs on offer continues to grow and appeal to all kinds of budgets and needs. The diesel crisis certainly affected the speed of growth in the market, but consumers are overcoming this by turning to more attractive petrol and AFV [alternatively fuelled vehicles] solutions.”

Munoz’s comments on the diesel slump was reflected by sales being down by 17% and representing just 37% of the car market in Europe.

While the news was great for manufacturers overall, the story in the UK was tempered a little by a drop of 6.3% compared to 2017

Europe’s top 10 best-selling cars in 2018 so far

1 - Volkswagen Golf, 257,550 registrations

2 - Renault Clio, 185,234

3 - Volkswagen Polo, 163,924

4 - Ford Fiesta, 157,286

5 - Nissan Qashqai, 134,547

6 - Peugeot 208, 132,764

7 - Volkswagen Tiguan, 129,237

8 - Skoda Octavia, 123,710

9 - Renault Captur, 121,235

10 - Vauxhall/Opel Corsa, 117,981

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