FRANKFURT--Demand for new cars increased 11% in March, marking the highest monthly growth since the same period last year, thanks to double-digit growth in countries particularly hurt by the economic crisis, such as Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy.

New-car registrations, a proxy for car sales, rose from a year earlier to 1.6 million vehicles, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, or ACEA. March marked the 19th consecutive month of growth.

In the first quarter, new passenger car registrations increased by 8.6% to 3.5 million units as growth in all major markets contributed to the overall upturn of the EU market, ACEA said Thursday.

Sales in Spain increased 41% in March from a year earlier, while Italy and Portugal posted growth of 15% and 42% respectively. Greece and Ireland posted double-digit growth as well.

France registered a growth of 9.3%, while Germany, Europe's biggest car market, posted 9% growth in the month.

Among individual brands, luxury car makers BMW AG and Daimler AG posted double-digit gains, up 11% and 19%, respectively, followed by Audi, whose sales grew 6.8% in the region.

Sales of the Volkswagen AG's namesake brand, the biggest volume manufacturer in the EU with a market share of 11%, grew 11.4% in March, while other mass market manufacturers such as Renault S.A. and Ford Motor Co. reported gains of 10% and 8.7%, respectively.

Opel Group continued to struggle in European markets, declining 0.6% in the month, largely because of a sharp decline in sales of its Chevrolet brand.

Write to Neetha Mahadevan at neetha.mahadevan@wsj.com

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