New Cars Sales Continue to Slump

June has seen car sales drop in the UK again, making it the 12 month in a row. Even though 183,000 new cars were purchased, figures are still down 6.2 percent compared to this time last year.

With the scrappage scheme coming to an end and the current state of the economy there is no surprise sales have dropped but signs are worrying for the industry with the Society of Motor Manufacturers predicting 2011 sales to reach 1.93 million, a massive drop from 2.03 million in 2010.

One car company which has seen sales rise this year is Bentley. The luxury car maker has sold almost 3,000 cars across the world in the first 6 months of 2011, a 20 per cent rise on last years numbers.

Sales have seen such growth with the popularity of the new Bentley Continental GT and the increase in Chinese sales which has seen a massive 57 per cent rise from last years numbers!

Want cheaper petrol? Call the AA!

With the UK on the verge of another economic recession and with fuel prices constantly on the rise, Edmund King, head of the AA has asked the Government to consider cutting fuel duty.

Petrol is now averaging around the £1.36 mark and with oil prices decreasing rapidly and two thirds of British motorists reducing their mileage to scrimp and save the pennies, King has urged the coalition to keep their promise of steadying fuel price by keeping duty relevant to the consistently increasing prices.

The Government have been exceedingly quite on the subject of fuel price since the budget in March and are still yet to response to the AA Presidents plea.

The new car market is one area benefiting from petrol prices with latest statistics showing new car sales are on the rise, probably due to better mpg and emissions ratings and used car sales seemingly hitting a bit of a slump, with smaller engined cars becoming worth more than their weight in gold!