GENEVA, March 3 (Reuters) - Car sales in Germany rose to 209,400 vehicles in February, a four percent rise from the year-earlier period, leading German Industry Association VDA said on Monday, striking an optimistic note about the prospect of a sustainable sales rebound.
"We're convinced that the auto spring which traditionally kicks off with the Geneva show will be much stronger and much more lively than a year ago. The outlook has brightened up sharply," said Matthias Wissmann, VDA auto industry president.
VDA stopped short of giving an definitive outlook for the year, but said they expect a rise in sales of two percent to 11.7 million cars in Western Europe in 2014, if economic conditions remain favourable. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer and Jan Schwartz; Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Harro ten Wolde)