Scrappage scheme fuels sales boost

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A glut of car insurance seekers will have entered the market with the news that sales of new vehicles soared by 26.4% last month.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the Government's scrappage scheme had fuelled the growth, estimating that it accounted for 19.6% of the new car market during the month.

Despite the good news, the spike in sales failed to bring the rate in line with February 2008's figure and the month's average for the last decade, against which it was down 1.3% and 12.2% respectively.

While not as good as hoped for, the figures nonetheless represent a significant turnaround for an industry that witnessed 15 successive months of falls in sales prior to the introduction of the scrappage programme.

SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said: "Scrappage has generated eight consecutive months of growth in the new car market and we expect its benefits to stretch beyond the scheme's closure later this month."

February's top-selling models were, in order, the Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, Vauxhall Astra, Vauxhall Corsa, Hyundai i10, Volkswagen Polo, BMW 3 Series, Kia Picanto and the Peugeot 207.

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