Sales of new cars rose 5.6 percent in July and 2.1 percent in August, the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA) said, showing the market is shaking off a slump.
French manufacturer Renault performed strongly in July with a 10.4-percent rise, but fell back 3.1 percent in August.
European car manufacturers were hard hit during the financial crisis and then the eurozone debt crisis, when businesses and consumers cut their spending, although German manufacturers weathered the storm relatively well.
Several governments introduced incentive schemes for the purchase of new cars involving bonuses for the scrapping of old vehicles. These programmes helped support sales for as long as they lasted, but sales tended to drop off again when the schemes ended.
In the last year, sales have begun to recover but from an exceptionally low base, and the weak state of many European economies still weighs on overall sales.
Sales in Britain, however, where the economy is recovering strongly, have rebounded well.