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06/09/2010
New car sales fell for the second consecutive month in August, triggering industry warnings that the pattern has been set for the rest of the year.
Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that there was a 17.5% decrease in new registrations in August compared to the same month last year. The 55,305 sales lagging behind the same month in a "scrappage-fuelled" 2009, the SMMT says.
This latest fall follows the 13.2% decline in July sales, which brought to an end 12 successive months of growth.
Nevertheless, year-to-date sales are up by more than 13% on 2009. Despite predicting that sales will slow throughout the remainder of the year, the SMMT says that slightly over two million cars will be sold in 2010 - 1.2% more than the 2009 total.
According to the industry body, August is set to be the lowest volume month of 2010. It typically accounts for only 3.3% of yearly sales, as many buyers wait for the plate change in September.
Despite the new '60' registration plates being issued for the first time this month, SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said that conditions for sales "will remain challenging through the rest of the year". However, he emphasised that this would be offset by the relatively strong start to the year, where the industry outperformed the first half of 2009.
The bestselling car last month was the Ford Fiesta, ahead of its Focus stablemate, and the Vauxhall Astra - in line with the positions for year-to-date sales.
Meanwhile, used car values hit an all-time high last year, according to British Car Auctions (BCA).
Autocar reports that, while volumes fell in both the new and used markets, the average value of used cars rose from £4,868 in 2008 to £5,422 in 2009. This growth in the value of cars came despite the Government's scrappage scheme, which offered an incentive to owners of older cars to trade in for a new model.
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