SALES of new cars in Britain jumped more than 11% last month, providing fresh evidence of the motor industry’s recovery from recession.
There were 367,929 new car registrations in September, 11.4% more than the same month a year ago, as motorists continued to take advantage of the Government’s scrappage scheme.
But the latest boost to sales has not been able to prevent Toyota’s engine plant in Deeside from returning to a shortened working week.
Company spokeswoman Karen Blount told the Liverpool Daily Post yesterday: “We had worked full-time at our Deeside and Burnaston plants but changed back to a 10% cut in working hours from October 1.”
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the latest figures showed the third monthly increase in a row, after a rise of 6% in August and 2.4% in July. SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said market conditions remained challenging.
About 1.5m new cars have been sold in the year to date, down by 15.5% on the same period last year.
