A surge in UK auto sales and an extra working day boosted Europe’s new car market in September, giving evidence that demand may be slowly bottoming out after plumbing lows not seen in over 20 years.

The European car market has been a prime casualty of the continent’s economic crisis as hard-pressed consumers defer purchases and a number of leading makers such as Peugeot have been forced into radical restructurings.

Automotive industry association ACEA said on Wednesday new car registrations in the EU climbed 5.4 per cent from a year ago to 1.16 million vehicles in September, only the third monthly gain in the past two years.

The figures echo findings earlier this month that sales of new cars had grown in France and Spain during September.

ACEA’s numbers showed the improvement was led by a 12 per cent rise in sales in top market Britain to 403,000 vehicles, while sales in Germany shrank 1.2 per cent to 247,000.

The monthly total was still the second-lowest September figure since ACEA began gathering data for the 27 EU member states in 2003.

Industry watchers have been looking for signs of recovery after the EU car market crashed to record lows in August.