PARIS — European automakers last month had their best showing in a year, an industry report showed on Thursday, as the economic recovery and incentive programs lifted sales across the region.

Registrations of new passenger cars in the European Union, a proxy for sales, rose 10.6 percent in March from a year earlier, their biggest gain since March 2014, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association reported from Brussels. The data include all 28 European Union members except Malta.

Sales are improving along with the eurozone economy. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, said on Wednesday at a news conference in Frankfurt that the eurozone was gradually picking up from the 0.3 percent quarterly growth rate it posted at the end of 2014.

Separately, the central bank on Thursday provided further evidence that the eurozone economy was improving, with its survey of professional forecasters showing that they had raised their expectations significantly compared with three months ago.