New car sales plummet 36.8%
Updated on 04 December 2008
New car sales in November were down 36.8 per cent on a year earlier, as the economic downturn continues to hit.
Last month's fall was the steepest since June 1980 and was worse than envisaged by a beleaguered industry in which manufacturers have cut production and jobs and announced longer-than-usual festive-period plant closures due to the falling demand for cars.
A total of 100,333 of new vehicles were registered last month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The big decrease followed similar large falls in sales in the three previous months.
Registrations over the past three months have fallen by 24.0 per cent, with even the arrival of the new 58-plate cars in September failing to kick-start the market. The November figures took the year-to-date total to 2,023,104 - a 10.7 per cent drop on the January-November 2007 figure.
Although diesel sales achieved a record high of 47.0 per cent in November, private sales of all vehicles accounted for just 45.1 per cent of the market.
SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said: "November has been another difficult month for the motor industry and while some consumers may have delayed their purchases to take advantage of the recent VAT reductions, overall demand continues to fall."
He added: "Urgent action is now required to ease access to credit and finance, both to support consumers and meet the cash-flow needs of the industry."
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