New car registrations power ahead

There were 2,111,819 cars registered year-to-date, up 9.9% and already ahead of 2012 full-year figure of 2,044,609. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) chief executive Mike Hawes said: "The car market is on target to hit SMMT forecast of 2.25 million registrations for 2013. "Motorists have bought more than two million cars so far in 2013, a tremendous success for the industry on the back of buoyant consumer confidence and innovative new products. With the UK economy looking increasingly positive, we can expect strong underlying demand for new cars to continue into 2014, with volumes set to match or surpass those seen this year." Total commercial vehicle registrations were also up strongly in November, rising 22.7% to 28,057 units in the month. And November saw the fourth month of growth for bus and coach registrations, up 38.4% to 623 units, although registrations for the market remain down 8.1% for the year-to-date.