New car sales in the European Union rose 13.7% in April on the year for their biggest jump since last October, Europe's auto industry body said on Wednesday, after registrations fell in March.

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said an uptick in major markets Spain, Germany, France and Italy drove the increase, while an early Easter added two extra sales days to the month.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Top European carmakers are betting on car sales to pick up over the year, despite warning that the market will be tough because of slowing sales growth of electric vehicles (EVs) and rising Chinese competition, while consumers struggle with high interest rates.

BY THE NUMBERS

Sales of battery electric cars in April rose by 14.8% from the previous year, while those of hybrid-electric cars grew 33.1%, the ACEA data showed.

Electrified vehicles, whether fully electric models, plug-in hybrids or full hybrids, sold in the European Union accounted for 47.8% of all new passenger car registrations in April, up from 44.1% in the previous year.

Car registrations at Europe's three largest carmakers Volkswagen, Stellantis and Renault grew by 15.5%, 1.7% and 11.0% respectively in the EU, while Toyota saw registrations jump 47.3%.

The number of new vehicles registered in April in the EU, Britain and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) rose by 12.0% to 1.08 million vehicles, the data showed.

CONTEXT

European car giants Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis all posted lower sales and first-quarter revenue last month, faced with higher costs and weaker demand for new cars as interest rates remain high, while the firms are ramping up new models including cheap EVs.

The sale of hybrid electric cars, seen as a compromise between all-combustion and all-electric, has increased in the European Union in recent months.

(Reporting by Greta Rosen Fondahn and Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)