SALES of new cars slumped last month compared to the year before — rattling the industry as the latest “67” plates came out.
Just over 426,000 new cars were registered in September, down 9.3 per cent on the same month last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
It was the sixth month in a row that sales had stalled – and the first time the key September market has fallen in six years.
The SMMT said the new number plate had failed to entice buyers because consumer confidence is shaky due to political and economic uncertainty.
“September is always a barometer of the health of the UK new car market, so this decline will cause considerable concern,” said Mike Hawes, chief executive at the SMMT.
“Business and political uncertainty is reducing buyer confidence, with consumers and businesses more likely to delay big ticket purchases.”
The SMMT added that diesel sales had been particularly hard hit over new air quality plans.
The Government recently announced plans to ban the sale of all conventional diesel and petrol cars by 2040.
Demand for diesel cars was down 21.7 per cent in September – and 13.7 per cent for the year to date.
Petrol models were down 1.2 per cent last month.
Sales of alternatively fuelled vehicles accelerated 41 per cent to achieve a market share of 5.3 per cent.
Simon Benson, director of motoring services at AA Cars, said: “We’re not entirely surprised to see sales drop off in September as new car registrations have declined each month without fail since April when the vehicle excise duty tax changes came into place.
“September now marks the sixth consecutive month of declining sales, and we’d expect to see a similar trend continue until the end of the year.”
The SMMT pointed out that sales are only 3.9 per cent down over the whole of 2017 to date and the market remains at historically high levels.