Sales of new cars in Britain increased by more than 11% last month, providing fresh evidence of the motor industry's recovery from recession, new figures have revealed.
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 scrappage scheme, under which they receive a £2,000 discount on vehicles more than 10 years old when they buy a new model.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the figures showed the third monthly increase in a row after a rise of 6% in August and 2.4% in July.
Chief executive Paul Everitt said: "Market conditions remain challenging with demand being underpinned by the extremely successful scrappage incentive scheme.
"The extension of the scheme will help to sustain demand through the latter part of this year and into 2010.
"This will allow economic recovery to strengthen and safeguard valuable industrial capability."
September is an important month for the car industry, with a new registration plate and sales worth almost a fifth of the annual total.
About 1.5 million new cars have been sold in the year to date, down by 15.5% on the same period last year, the SMMT reported.
Sales of private cars drove last month's increase, while fleet and business sales were both down.
Fleet sales were 13% lower than a year ago and by 25% in the year to date, while business sales were 11% down on the month and 29% on the year to date.
