Government-subsidised scrapping schemes continued to distort the European new car market, inflating sales for automakers dominant in the UK and France while penalising those dependent on demand in Germany.

New car registrations in the EU and European Free-Trade Association jumped 16 per cent in December as figures got a near 50 per cent boost in France while gaining almost 40 per cent in Great Britain, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen increased their combined share of the European market last month by 3.5 percentage points as car buyers in France rushed to take advantage of the €1,000 ahead of January 1, when Paris began a phase out by cutting the sum to €700.

Renault alone, which counts the French state as its second largest shareholder, saw new registrations for its namesake brand rise by half in December, helping stabilise its full year volume at around 1.1 million vehicles.

Alliance partner Nissan, which counts on the UK for a major chunk of its European sales, saw its European sales nearly double during the same period. Tata's Jaguar Land Rover unit had a fantastic Christmas month as well. The two luxury brands saw overall European registrations jump just over 50 per cent buoyed by a recovery in the UK market and the outlook for City banker bonuses at the end of the year.

Italian automaker Fiat grew volumes by 23 per cent, capitalising on a 17 per cent gain in its home market as well as overall strong demand for small cars like the Punto and 500 driven by flat-rate scrapping incentives.

By comparison, Volkswagen suffered a sub-par month as sales glut generated from Germany's scrapping scheme that ended early in September finally begins to feed through into registration statistics with a delay. While home advantage helped JLR, the strong reliance on German demand hurt Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which posted sluggish growth. Audi even endured a sharp 14 per cent decline.