BERLIN, June 17 (Reuters) - European car registrations surged in May, rising for the third month in row, industry data showed on Thursday, as sales continued to recover from the low level reported last year when sales dropped across Europe due to coronavirus restrictions. New passenger car registrations rose by 73.7% year-on-year to 1,083,795 vehicles in the European Union, Britain and the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) showed. (Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, editing by Madeline Chambers) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.