New car sales move up a gear

Sales of new cars leapt by more than a fifth last month but industry leaders warned that the market was far from booming.

Across the UK, some 94,094 cars were registered in August compared with 76,433 during the same month in 2017, a yearon-year rise of 23.1 per cent, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

The automotive industry body warned that the market was not “booming” and the figures were a result of August being a traditionally slow month for sales, prior to the September plate-change.

The introduction of tougher emissions tests from 1 September also led to an increase in sales for certain models, such as the Seat Leon, Honda Jazz and Suzuki Swift.

For the year to the end of August, overall registrations were down 4.2 per cent compared with the first eight months of 2017.

Sales of petrol models leapt 39.1 per cent last month, while diesels fell for the 17th consecutive month, down 7.7 per cent.

Demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles such as hybrids and pure electric cars jumped 88.7 per cent to take a market share of 8 per cent.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “It’s great to see such strong growth, particularly in the important electric vehicle market.

“However, given August is always a small month in new car registrations ahead of the important plate-change month of September, it would be wrong to view the market as booming.”

Howard Archer, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, said: “Private new car sales were down 3.1 per cent year-on-year over the first eightmonthsof2018at696,391 units, indicating that consumers have been cautious over making major purchases as the extended squeeze on their purchasing power only gradually eases.”

August fleet sales were up – only the third increase in 2018.