New car market declined by 4.1% in July

Demand for new cars fell by 4.1% last month in what was the weakest July market since 2012, the automotive industry said.

Some 157,000 new cars were registered last month compared with 164,000 during July 2018, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

This was the fifth consecutive month of decline.

The SMMT said consumer and business confidence continues to be affected by confusion over Government policy towards different fuel types, as well as political and economic uncertainty.

Private and fleet registrations fell by 2% and 4.7% respectively last month, while business sales were down 22.5%.

Sales of diesel models dropped by 22.1% but demand for new petrol cars was up 2.6%.