"Nearly all major EU car markets posted growth, except for the United Kingdom [minus 6.3 percent], which saw car sales decline for the 10th consecutive month," it said. "Spain [20.3 percent] and Germany [11.6 percent] recorded the strongest gains, followed by Italy [3.4 percent] and France [2.5 percent]," it added. The report showed that VW Group, of which major brands are Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche, hold the lion's share with 24.6 percent in passenger car sales for January, increasing sales by 9.2 percent, year-on-year. PSA Group -- including Peugeot, Citroen, and Opel -- and Renault Group followed VW Group with 16.6 percent and 9.3 percent of car sales, respectively. In 2017, over 15 million new passenger cars were sold in the EU, up 3.4 percent for the fourth consecutive year.