Record New Car Sales

Published Date: 6th Apr 2014

Sales of new cars in the UK rose at their fastest pace for a decade, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has announced.

March is historically the busiest month in the year - contributing for almost a fifth of all new car sales annually.

This record breaking March also saw the biggest-ever rise in sales of alternatively-fuelled vehicles, with sales rising 63.8% compared with a year earlier, to 8,713.

There were 464,824 new car registrations, an increase of 17.7% on last year.

The sales figures were also the second-highest on record since the introduction of twice-yearly car registrations in early 1999.

In the three months to March 2014 car sales rose 13.7% to 688,122, the SMMT added.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, explained the "surprisingly strong level of growth" in sales was a reflection of intensifying consumer confidence.

"Given the past six years of subdued economic performance across the UK, there is still a substantial margin of pent-up demand that is contributing to a strong new and used car market," he went on to say.

"We expect the market to continue to perform positively for the rest of the year, albeit at a more modest rate."

And Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, explained the March sales figures were "extremely good news for the car industry".

He announced they gave a "significant boost" to the UK's overall economic growth prospects for the first three months of the year.

Here at UK Car Discount, we have seen a mass increase in sales and new orders for popular models such as: The Nissan Qashqai, Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, Ford Mondeo, Hyundai IX35, Toyota Yaris, Citroen C4 Grand Picasso and Nissan Juke.

Written By Harley Bennett