8:19 am, May 7, 2013
NEW car registrations jump 14.8 per cent in April, according to the SMMT.
163,357 units were registered in the month – securing the strongest growth in 14 months – and was aided by a strong increase in private registrations, up over 30 per cent on the same time last year.
Registrations in the first four months of 2013 were also up – rising 8.9 per cent to 768,555 units – causing the SMMT to revise its full year market forecast, now up around 50,000 to 2.106 million units.
In addition to private, fleet and business registrations saw slight rises – up 0.8 and 8.5 per cent respectively – and the UK continues to outperform other European markets.
The figures mean that April 2013 has been the most fruitful since 2008 – a month when the scrappage scheme was still in full force.
The SMMT puts the jump down to a number of March registrations being pushed into April thanks to high demand.
‘The UK new car market continues to perform surprisingly strongly, with volumes again increasing in April. While the headline increase was up almost 15% there were more sales days this year than last,’ said SMMT interim chief executive, Mike Baunton.
‘The UK continues to perform well ahead of the troubled Eurozone as consumer confidence, regular purchase cycles, attractive finance deals and wider market factors continue to make new car buying favourable for motorists.’
