Diesel car sales fall sharply due to fears over air pollution

 Demand for new diesel cars plummeted by a fifth last month amid rising concerns over air pollution.

Some 81,500 new diesel cars were registered in May, down 20 per cent on the same month last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. This represented a fall in market share from 50 per cent to 43.7 per cent.

Air pollution is linked to an estimated 40,000 early deaths a year and 37 out of 43 areas across the UK are exceeding legal European Union limits for key pollutant nitrogen dioxide, much of which comes from diesel engines.

Jim Holder, editorial director of What Car? magazine, said: “There has been a wave of negative headlines around the fuel but at the same time the taxation system continues to incentivise them.

“Until there is clarity over where future tax incentives will lie, and what city centre charges will or won’t be imposed, diesel sales will remain under pressure.”