Berlin  - European new car sales jumped by 6.3 per cent in September boosted by government incentive schemes aimed at drawing car buyers into showrooms, the auto industry association ACEA said Thursday.

But underscoring the fragile state of the European car sector in the wake of the global economic crisis, auto sales slumped by 6.6 per cent in the first three quarters of the year.

"The September results were boosted in markets with government incentives to support fleet renewal in place, and especially in those countries where these schemes come to an end soon," the Brussels-based ACEA said releasing the results.

This includes Europe's biggest car market, Germany, where sales surged by 21 per cent last month. Car registrations in Spain raced ahead by 18 per cent in September, the ACEA said.

Benefiting from the incentive schemes were smaller car markers such as Europe's biggest auto manufacturer Volkswagen, which reported a 15.4-per-cent jump in its flagship VW brand during September.

At the same time, France's Peugeot-Citroen group said sales rose 11.8 per cent while rival Renault reported a 15.1-per-cent increase. Italy's Fiat group reported a 13.7-per-cent increase on the month.

But while its compact Mini car posted a 12-per-cent increase, Munich-based luxury auto maker BMW reported that its core BMW brand suffered a 2.3-per-cent decline in September. Mercedes-Benz sales slumped by 11.4 per cent.

Asian car makers also posted strong growth in their European sales last month with Hyundai reporting a 53.7-per-cent increase and Kia reporting a 35.3-per-cent increase.

All in all, car sales in western Europe rose 9.6 per cent in September to record its biggest gain in a decade.

A total of 1,388,136 new cars were registered in Europe during September, the ACEA said.

But dragging down the total European car-sale numbers was a dramatic 36.4-per-cent fall in Central and Eastern Europe, which has been badly hit by the global recession that took hold earlier this year.

However, while Central Europe's biggest car market in Poland reported a 7.9-per-cent increase in September, registrations in the Baltic nations fell sharply with Latvia posting an 80.4-per-cent fall and Lithuania reporting a 69.3-per-cent drop. (dpa)