According to the European Business Association, the sales of light-duty vehicles rose by 6% in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the first quarter of 2009: 21,062 automobiles were sold in January-March 2010 against 19,962 cars sold in January-March 2009.

Nevertheless, the sales of certain brands have gone down. For one, the sales of both Volkswagen NFZ and Nissan cars decreased by 40%, those of Ford cars dropped by 64%, those of Mercedes-Benz Vans automobiles declined by 85%, and those of Toyota cars plunged by 90% compared with the first quarter of 2009.