The new CEVS scheme has aided Jaguar's sales performance while Porsche has the Boxster and the new 911 to thank to help Porsche forge ahead. Volkswagen overtook Toyota to the number three spot - partially thanks to the MK7 Golf, while German marque Mercedes-Benz and BMW have claimed the top two spots.

Interestingly five German marques have nabbed better sales figures than Hyundai or Mazda. BMW held the number one spot for the last two years while Toyota was defiant in number three, till now. The first quarter results show the Germans' growing strength. Mercedes, BMW, VW, Audi and Porsche made up 72.3 percent of the 4,507 cars sold by the top 10 brands reported The Straits Times.

The brands with top five best sales accounted for 68.6 percent of total sales, basically seven out of every ten cars sold in the first three months were from one of the top five finishers - including Audi. The once dominant Japanese marques have reduced to just two with Toyota and Mazda.

Volkswagen Group Singapore Managing Director, Steffen Schwarz, told the local paper the introduction of the CEVS scheme has caused some buzz among potential car buyers and have been drawn to the German marques wide range of low emissions cars.

Industry experts claim with nine more months to go before the end of 2013 year ends and with the recently imposed loan curbs fully kicked in only last month - how these measures will influence sales over the long term is unknown.