Bulgaria reported the second-fastest growth rate in terms of new passenger car registrations in the first half of 2008, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) said in a statement.

Bulgaria's year-on-year growth rate of 20.5 per cent was beaten only by Lithuania's 36.2 per cent. Slovakia was tucked into third place with 19.3 per cent.

But at the same time, the number of cars sol was only 23 292 units. Only Estonia, Iceland, Lithuania and Latvia registered fewer sales in the first half of this year in the first half of this year.

ACEA's data covers 25 European Union member states, Malta and Cyprus excluded, and the four countries that make up the European Free Trade Area - Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.

The volume of the Bulgarian market remains disappointing compared to countries with comparable population like Hungary and the Czech Republic, where 82 943 and 73 455 new cars were registered over the same period.

Across Europe, new passenger car registrations fell by two per cent in the first half of 2008, ACEA said.

The largest European markets were in different ways. While Germany an France continued on a growth path with increases of 3.6 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively, there were sizable declines in the Spanish and Italian markets, which posted drops of 17.6 per cent and 11.5 percent, respectively.

In total, 8.34 million new cars were registered over the first six months of the year in the countries covered by ACEA.