UK new car registrations hit 10-year high

The year was fourth-largest of all time – only 2002, 2003 and 2004 saw more cars registered, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The market grew 9.3% in 2014 over the previous year, ahead of the EU average of 5.7% and the SMMT said the UK remains second largest market in EU (behind Germany and ahead of France, Italy and Spain), and recorded second-largest growth of these top five EU markets. It added: "Every month in 2014 saw an increase, with December's 8.7% rise the 34th consecutive month of growth." Mike Hawes (pictured), SMMT chief executive, said: "UK new car registrations returned to pre-recession levels in 2014, as pent-up demand from the recession years combined with confidence in the economy saw consumer demand for the latest models grow consistently and strongly." He added: "The year was particularly strong for alternatively-fuelled vehicles as increased choice, coupled with a growing desire for reduced costs and greater efficiency, resulted in a quadrupling of plug-in car registrations over 2013. With a variety of new plug-in models expected in 2015, this area of the market will continue to grow significantly. For the market as a whole, we expect a more stable 2015 as demand levels off."