European car sales fell 18 percent in February from a year ago, with steeper drops avoided only by government subsidies, European auto makers association ACEA said Friday.

It said most countries saw sales slide, except Germany - Europe's biggest market - where a government program to 'scrap a wreck and get a check' buoyed car purchases by 21.5 percent. A similar French plan cushioned a 13 percent fall in sales, it said.

Volkswagen, the region's No. 1 car maker, saw a smaller decrease of 10 percent. General Motors was down almost 22 percent, Ford fell nearly 13 percent and Fiat sold 16.5 percent fewer cars.

Only South Korea's Hyundai saw sales pick up - by 20 percent - although it only sold 26,173 cars out of the 968,159 models that left show rooms last month.