Frankfurt  - Surging oil prices and growing inflation fears have hit German car sales, with figures released Tuesday showing a big slump last month in new registrations in Europe's biggest auto market.

New registrations fell by 6.0 per cent month on month to 275,300 in May, the German Automobile Federation said.

Releasing the data, the federation pointed to soaring petrol prices and a delay in the new vehicle registration tax rules as key reasons for the drop in May car sales.

Oil prices climbed to a record high of 135.09 dollars a barrel last month helping to fuel renewed inflationary pressures in both Germany and Europe.

However, the federation said new car registrations were up four per cent during the first five months of the year, as car sales rebounded from the steep decline following the government's hefty hike in Germany's sales tax at the start of 2007.

Despite the strong euro and the current global economic uncertainties, the federation also said that German car exports remained robust.

Since the beginning of this year, German car exports have risen by 3 per cent compared with the same period in 2007. (dpa)