FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Car sales in Europe are still sagging despite the return of modest economic growth.

For the first eight months of the year, passenger car sales in the European Union were off 5.2 per cent to 7.84 million compared with the same period last year, the European Auto Manufacturers’ Association said Tuesday. That’s the lowest January-August figure since the group started keeping track in 1990.

New car registrations in August fell 5 per cent from a year ago to 653,872, the association said.

The economy in the 28-country EU grew 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, ending a recession. But the unemployment rate remains high at 11.0 per cent, making many consumers unable or afraid to buy a new car.

Governments hit by the eurozone debt crisis have cut back on spending and raised taxes to try to manage oversized debt levels, slowing their economies. The hardest hit countries, such as Greece and Spain, face even higher jobless rates that have hurt sales of moderately priced vehicles especially hard. Luxury carmakers are doing better.

The August downturn was distributed across Europe’s biggest markets. Germany saw a 5.5 per cent drop, despite a stronger economy than in other members of the 17-county eurozone. Registrations fell 10.5 per cent in France, 18.3 per cent in Spain, and 6.6 per cent in Italy.

Britain’s was the only major market to expand, rising 10.5 per cent.

Analyst Carlos Da Silva at IHS Automotive said the figures suggested the market was bottoming out because the decline had slowed from 9.7 per cent in the first three months of the year.

“Decline is still on the menu but the rate of descent has nearly been halved,” he said.

Global auto executives remain cautious, however. They said in interviews at the Frankfurt Auto Show last week that while the European market may have reached the bottom, they do not see any significant increase in demand this year.

The European market contrasts with a rebound in the United States, where figures show sales are on track to reach 16 million vehicles a year — the level from before the recession. European annual sales were 15.6 million in 2007 — but are heading for just under 12 million for all of this year.

Among the major carmakers, Germany’s Volkswagen Group was off 11.2 per cent in August while France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen slid 17.3 per cent. Renault Group rose 6.0 per cent and General Motors was up 0.5 per cent — as a large jump in sales of Chevrolet-branded vehicles made up for a 3.4 per cent fall in sales of its main European Opel and Vauxhall brands. Ford was off 1.5 per cent.