New car sales grow for 27 months in a row
A total of 194,032 new cars were registered in May – a 7.7 per cent hike on the same month last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said yesterday.
The increase last month was the 27th consecutive monthly rise – beating the previous record of 26 months of growth between May 1987 and June 1989.
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Hide AdNorth of the Border, sales rose by an even sharper 15.8 per cent last month to 17,800 vehicles. Douglas Robertson, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association, said: “We believe this is evidence that Scottish consumers are aware we’re coming out of the recession.”
Euan Murray, at Barclays’ Scottish corporate banking arm, added: “Over the summer it will be interesting to see if this holds firm, or whether we will see the growth rate drop down a gear.”