CAR maker Nissan has boosted new car sales in Europe by nearly a third.
New car registrations in September rose by 31 per cent compared with last September.
Nissan's Sunderland factory is the most productive in the continent and builds cars mainly for the European market.
Sales of new cars across Europe grew by 1.9 per cent last month, with new models and aggressive discounting pushing numbers up, figures from car industry group ACEA showed.
Registrations of new cars across the European Union, as well as Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, rose by 1.4 million units, supported by solid growth across Germany - the continent's biggest market by far.
Growth was also strong in major markets such as Italy, Spain and France.
ACEA said the figures indicated a progressive recovery of the new car sales market.
That brought nine-month sales to 11.8 million units, only 0.1 per cent below the level in the same period last year, despite an influx of used cars into eastern Europe, which usually dampens demand for new vehicles.
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