EU car sales inch into positive territory EU car sales ended an 18-month losing streak in April, raising hopes that the market's decline in the continent has finally begun to slow. New registrations in the EU rose 1.7 per cent compared with the same month a year ago, helped by gains in the German and UK markets, Europe's largest by sales. However, the region enjoyed two additional working days than in the previous year, thanks to an early Easter, and the April 2012 figure was also a historic low, providing a favourable comparison. Carlos da Silva at IHS Automotive, the consultancy, said it was "a long way before we can actually start rejoicing . . . April's positive performance is mostly a calendar technicality. "The west European market remains at one of its lowest trend levels for a long time," he added. [But] compared to the dreadful start of this year, the trend may be slowly - very slowly - starting to change. The uptick followed a 10 per cent contraction in March, which may also have been exaggerated by the early Easter holiday. In the first four months of the year, new car sales declined 7 per cent to just over 4m units. Allan Rushforth, Hyundai Europe's chief operating officer, said he expected "continued uncertainty through the summer season, especially as Germany heads towards September elections." After a torrid start to the year, particularly in Germany, which had previously been more resilient, carmakers were pondering whether to revise lower their expectations for the year. Ernst & Young has forecast that sales for the region's carmakers will decline 5-7 per cent in 2013 compared with 2012. EU unemployment continues to rise but consumer confidence registered a slight improvement in April. Carmakers" profits are being affected not only by weak sales but by the need to offer attractive incentives and the trend for consumers to favour entry-level models over high-specification luxury cars. But car manufacturers are not alone in watching closely for tentative signs that Europe's desperately weak auto market has ended its decline. Europe's steelmakers have been hit hard by the slump in automotive demand, while chemical companies have been hit by weaker demand for materials such as rubber. Car sales rose 4 per cent in the important German market, 11 per cent in Spain and 15 per cent in the UK. However, in France, the market declined 5 per cent; in Italy it was down 11 per cent and in the Netherlands 26 per cent. Sales in crisis-hit Cyprus were 52 per cent below the previous year. Among manufacturers, Volkswagen group sales rose 10 per cent in April, but PSA Peugeot Citroën and Fiat's sales declined by the same amount. The data helped support carmaker stocks on Friday. Renault's share gained 1.4 per cent and Peugeot shares climbed 1.8 per cent in early trading. Renault's shares have gained about 50 per cent since the start of the year.