Germany, Italy, France and Spain all experienced double-digit growth in car registrations during May, with a total of 969,100 up 15% on the previous year.

JATO Dynamics’ monthly report revealed that SUV had been a key contributor to the rise, with volumes up 30% meaning that the segment accounted for almost 25% of the overall market.

The total YTD volume grew by 9.7% to 4.82 million cars, the highest percentage increase in a decade.

Economic uncertainty was blamed for a “cooling of the UK market”, however, with an increase of just 2% for the region’s second largest market.

"Improved economic conditions as a result of higher consumer confidence and lower fuel prices continue to boost the largest European car markets. The higher demand is clearly focused on the best-selling SUVs as more car makers join this key segment," said Felipe Munoz, global automotive analyst at JATO Dynamics.

Germany posted its highest May sales since 2012, with total registrations growing by 12% to 287,000 units.

Italy posted outstanding growth of 28% at 189,000 units, its highest May total since 2009, outperforming France to become the third largest market in Europe for the year to date.

The 175,800 units registered in France represent its highest May sales since 2014.

Spain continued to grow, reporting a 19% increase in May, its second highest monthly increase this year.

Renault was the biggest winner among the manufacturers in May, with a dramatic 38% rise in registrations (to 77,000 units) seeing it outsell Ford.

Renault's Clio was the market’s second best-seller overall as Ford's Fiesta suffered a decline in Germany (-15%), France (-22%) and the UK (-12%).

This left the French brand 30,000 units behind Europe’s largest car brand, Volkswagen, which posted a modest 1% gain for the month.

Volkswagen's market share fell from 12.5% in May 2015 to 10.9% last month as Renault's share jumped from 6.6% to almost 8%.

The Golf hatchback returned 31,600 registrations to remain the market’s best seller but lost market share, with 3.27% compared to 3.79% a year earlier.

Volkswagen's May market share was the lowest the company has recorded for the month since 2008, whereas Renault's was its highest since May 2010.

JATO revealed that Ford and Vauxhall both recorded market share falls as a result of the reduced demand in the UK.

A JATO statement added: “Fiat's volume grew by 27%, which took its market share to 6.4% as a result of significant increases in demand across Italy, France and Spain.

“Peugeot followed with a 19% increase, while the three German premium brands occupied the seventh (Audi), eighth (Mercedes) and ninth (BMW) positions, all of them with double-digit growth.

“The top 10 was completed by Citroen, which posted a 23% increase to 41,100 units.”

Outside Europe’s top 10, key risers were: Infiniti  (158%), Jaguar (+108%), Abarth (+64%), Bentley (+62%) and Ssangyong (+48%).

Volumes grew in all segments with the exception of luxury sedans (F-Segment), which posted a 3% decline.

SUVs sales in “the Big 5” totalled 241,000 units in May and accounted for almost one in every four (24.9%) of new registrations.

This represents a 30% uplift compared to May 2015.

The C-Segment, third in the ranking, was the month's big loser as its market share fell from 19.7% in May 2015 to 19.0% last month.

Registrations fell in the UK by 6.2% and only grew by 8.6% in Germany, its largest market.

New models which performed best during May were the Renault Kadjar (+420%), Ford SMax (+373%), BMW X1 (+137%), and the new Hyundai Tucson, whose registrations totalled 8,700 units, becoming the fifth best-selling compact SUV.