Ford said European car sales increased 12 percent in March, the tenth straight monthly gain, as customers snapped up small vehicles and compact SUVs.

Deliveries in the so-called Euro-20 markets, including all major countries plus the Baltic states, rose by 15,900 cars to 147,100, extending the first-quarter gain to 11 percent or 297,900 autos, Ford said on Tuesday in a statement.

Sales last month were powered by models that include the Fiesta subcompact, the Kuga compact SUV and the Transit Custom van, according to Ford.

The carmaker delivered 74,700 units last month in its No. 1 European market, the UK, in March, a 13 percent gain on year-ago levels, and posted a 19 percent increase in Germany, its second-largest regional market, to 21,800 autos.

Ford’s money-losing European division is counting on new models and a stabilizing market to increase sales this year, after shrinking demand inflicted a 2 percent drop in 2013 deliveries.