New car registrations in Germany, a key indicator of demand in Europe's top economy, rose strongly in February, data showed on Wednesday.

A total of 250,302 new cars were registered last month, an increase of 12.1 percent compared with the figure for the same month in 2015, according to data compiled by the federal road transport authority KBA.

Car sales had already risen by three percent in January.

In the breakdown of sales by different carmakers, new ownbrand registrations of the country's biggest carmaker Volkswagen increased by 4.3 percent in February.

Volkswagen has admitted to installing emissions-cheating software in 11 million diesel engines worldwide, sparking a worldwide scandal.