UK Car Sales Down in June

The decreasing trend in UK's new car sales continued through June, even if at a slower pace. For the sixth month of the year, figures have shown that the country's automotive sector fell only 15.7 percent, largely due to the local scrappage scheme set in place in May.

“We are now beginning to see the positive impact of the scrappage scheme translate into new vehicle registrations,” Paul Everitt, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Ceo said when announcing the results “SMMT expects the pace of improvement to increase in the coming months, but we can already see the industry making steady progress on the long road to recovery.”

June's result show the smallest decline in a year (since July 2008), with 176,264 new car registrations last month, compared with 209,190 in June 2008. SMMT had expected the market to decline to 153,000 units (as forecast in April), with the actual figures being 15 percent higher, at 176,264 units.

As for the half year, the market stayed down 25.9 percent or 322,524 units. Volumes in the second quarter were down 21.2%, marking a sixth successive quarterly decline.

UK's best seller in June was American manufacturer Ford, with 29,803 vehicles sold, followed by Vauxhall with 20,990 units. At the opposite end, Renault only managed to sell 2,853 vehicles.

The small car segment was the choice of most of the British buyers. Being largely petrol powered, the increase in small car demand has made diesel powered vehicles experiencing a fall in this period. Still, diesel market share remains up over the year-to-date.