New car sales break two million mark

Another increase in new UK car sales during November has taken the 2013 total past two million.

The impressive month where 159,581 cars were registered was the best since 2004 and represented a seven per cent year-on-year boost.

The continued good performance means new car sales for this year have reached 2.1 million, already more than the entire 2012 registrations.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) set a new annual forecast of 2.25 million in October and the industry is on course to meet it.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive said the figures were a ‘tremendous success’.

“With the UK economy looking increasingly positive, we can expect strong underlying demand for new cars to continue into 2014, with volumes set to match or surpass those seen this year,” he added.

The Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus were the most popular purchases once again while private sales were up by more than 7,000 from November 2012.

Business and fleet sales remained steady.

Other popular new cars for November included the Vauxhall Corsa, Astra and Insignia while the Nissan Qashqai also showed strong sales.

The sale of electric cars continues to improve while alternatively-fuelled vehicles have accounted for 1.4 per cent of the new car market in 2013.