Registrations of passenger cars in Europe's largest auto market still rose 4 percent in the January-to-March period to about 879,000 vehicles, making it the strongest first quarter since 2000, the source said.

Sales of diesel-powered vehicles plunged about 20 percent in the first three months of 2018 and held a share of about 39 percent of Germany's car market, the source said.

Germany's KBA automotive watchdog is expected to release official vehicle registration data later on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Maria Sheahan)

Stocks treated in this article : Bayerische Motoren Werke, Daimler, Volkswagen