New car market drops 2.8%, figures show
The new car market is continuing to decline as demand for diesels plummets, industry figures show.
Just under 81,000 new cars were registered in February - down 2.8% on the same month last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
UK new car market dips in February: 80,805 new cars driven off forecourts in the month, -2.8% down on 2017 https://t.co/qLQPeABeAqpic.twitter.com/8XV1TboJnQ
-- SMMT (@SMMT) March 5, 2018
This was driven by a 23.5% fall in the number of new diesel cars bought.
Diesel cars held a market share of just 35% last month, compared with 44.5% in February 2017.
Registrations of petrol cars were up 14.4% last month, while demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles such as hybrids and pure electrics increased by 7.2%.
