(Bloomberg) -- European car registrations ended a nine-month losing streak to rise marginally in May, helped by a jump in deliveries in Germany.

Deliveries rose 0.04% to 1.44 million cars compared to a year ago, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said Tuesday. Sales in Germany, the biggest European auto market, surged 9.1% to counteract an ongoing pullback in the U.K., where uncertainty over Brexit continues to put off consumers from purchasing new vehicles. Spain also declined.

The gain in Germany came despite gloomy economic data showing an unexpected rise in unemployment during May as well as consumer confidence coming in below predictions. Europe’s biggest auto market benefited from carmakers offering generous trade-in incentives to swap older diesel cars for cleaner, newer models or electric vehicles. Companies like Volkswagen AG and BMW AG are offering as much as 7,500 euros ($8,424) as a number of cities weigh or have put in place bans on older diesel cars.

The country also had two additional trading days compared with a year ago. The U.K. declined 4.6% while Spain fell by 7.3%.

Car sales had been in a protracted slump since August, starting with wild gyrations after new emission testing regulations that extended into worsening anxiety over Brexit and slowing economic growth. Softer sales have led to sliding carmaker profits as they battle global jitters over U.S.-China trade tensions as well as ongoing unprecedented spending on the shift to electric cars.

The reprieve from a nascent turnaround may be short-lived, as carmakers ready for tightening European Union regulation on fleet carbon dioxide emissions starting next year. The industry faces penalties of 33 billion euros, unless more improvements can be achieved, Evercore ISI analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said in a note lasts month. The new rules will pressure carmakers to sell more electric and plug-in hybrid cars, which for now sell at lower margins than cars with internal combustion engines.

For the year through May, Europe’s car market declined 2% to 6.94 million cars, according to ACEA.

To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Sachgau in Munich at osachgau@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Elisabeth Behrmann

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