DEMAND for brand new Volkswagen cars soared in Scotland last month in a sign that motorists are softening to the disgraced brand again for the first time since the emissions scandal.

Sales of new VW cars in Scotland were up by nearly 57 per cent to 4,611 in March, compared to the same month last year, with buyers lured by the Spring number plate change.

It comes after smaller year-on-year increases of six and eight per cent in January and February this year, and the German car giant began to turn a corner after a dramatic fall in sales towards the end of 2015.

Other brands in the VW Group also saw a boost in demand at their Scottish dealerships with Audi up 41 per cent year-on-year in March, followed by a 21 per cent increase for Skoda and 14 per cent for Seat.

Luxury brand Bentley was largely unchanged, with eight new models sold last month, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Volkswagen is still investigating the build up and aftermath of the emissions scandal, but has admitted that its bosses knew the company was using so-called "defeat devices" to cheat diesel emissions tests more than a year before the scandal broke in September 2015.

The turnaround for VW comes against a backdrop of growing car sales in Scotland generally, particularly in the Central and Lothians region, and record-breaking March registrations for the UK as a whole.

In Scotland, there were a total of 46,050 new registrations in March, up nearly three per cent on March 2015. That lagged behind the UK average, however, which was up five per cent.

Sandy Burgess, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association (SMTA) said: "All areas have experienced growth with the exception of Dumfries & Galloway and Strathclyde, the reductions however are minimal and with the fantastic growth on 2015 numbers elsewhere we have come out of this critical sales period well ahead for the year to date situation."

The SMMT also noted that more than 17,000 hybrid or electric cars were sold across the UK in March, more than eleven times the number sold in the same month a decade ago.

SMMT chief executive, Mike Hawes, said: "The sector's strong growth in March rounds off a robust first quarter as British consumers continue to demonstrate their appetite for new cars, especially ultra-low emission vehicles.

"This confidence should see registrations remain at a high but broadly stable level over the year, but could be undermined by political or economic uncertainty."