Car sales up on last year, ‘fuelling optimism over economic revival’

Date posted: May 9, 2013

“An impressive jump in new car purchases last month has reinforced hopes that confidence is returning to the economy,” according to The Independent.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT) has revealed that vehicle registrations soared 14.8% in April when compared to the same month in 2012. This shows the strongest growth in 14 months.

In fact, new car registrations have been growing rapidly since the beginning of 2012 according to The Independent.

“In the first four months of the year, they were up 8.9 per cent on 2012. In the rest of the European Union, new registrations have been in decline since early 2010.”

“The fortunes of the UK car industry, which accounts for 700,000 jobs and 10 per cent of total exports, are regarded as a useful barometer of the health of the larger economy. Of the 163,357 vehicles registered in April, 81,753 were private sales and 75,067 were fleet sales.”

Private car sales are also up nearly 33% year on year. The most popular marques are the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa, Ford Focus and the Volkswagen Golf.

Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight described the figures as “very encouraging”.

He said: “Sales have been supported by attractive offers and packages, as well as by motorists’ desire to buy more fuel-efficient cars.”