New car market improves by 5.3pc

More than 2m new cars were sold in the UK last year, an increase of 5.3 per cent on 2011 and the highest since 2008, new figures showed yesterday.

By The Newsroom

Published 8th Jan 2013, 06:00 BST

The increase was the biggest since 2001, with sales of new vehicles boosted by strong consumer demand, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Sales of new cars reached 2,044,609 over the year, with a 3.7 per cent increase in December alone compared with the same month in 2011.

SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said the new car market grew last year at the fastest rate for more than a decade, driven  by innovative, fuel-efficient models.

The Ford Fiesta was the best-selling car of 2012, with more than 109,000 models being bought, followed by the Vauxhall Corsa (89,434), Ford Focus (83,115) and Vauxhall Astra (63,023).

Last year’s healthy sales figures followed a 12.9 per cent increase in private demand for new cars.