Private car registrations in May grew for the 27th consecutive month in the UK, breaking a record set in the 1980s for continuous growth in car sales, according to statistics released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
May’s figures showed that year on year, the number of registrations grew 7.7% to just more than 194,000 vehicles, demonstrating that the car market was finally recovering to levels unseen since before the financial crisis.
The May figures helped year-to-date registrations exceed 1 million, and meant the car market grew 11.6% in the first five months of the year, exceeding early estimates.
At current rates, the market will exceed the total registration figure for 2007 (2.4 million), the last strong year in sales before the full effects of the market downturn.
