April 5, 2018

UK car sales slide for 12th month: industry body

Two British built-cars, a Bentley Flying Spur and a Range Rover, pictured in London in 2015
Two British built-cars, a Bentley Flying Spur and a Range Rover, pictured in London in 2015

New car sales in Britain fell for a 12th month in March, as demand for diesel vehicles slumped further, this time by more than one third, industry data showed Thursday.

New registrations for all vehicles sank 15.7 percent in March year-on-year to 474,069 cars, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said in a statement.

The number of new diesel-powered cars plunged 37.2 percent to 153,594, with demand sliding on UK government plans to improve air quality.

Consumers continued to ditch last month for automobiles that are regarded as more environmentally-friendly.

March is usually a busy month for car purchases owing to the release of new registration plates.

"March's decline is not unexpected given the huge surge in registrations in the same month last year," SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said Thursday regarding the latest data.

© 2018 AFP

Citation: UK car sales slide for 12th month: industry body (2018, April 5) retrieved 29 March 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2018-04-uk-car-sales-12th-month.html
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