UK car sales soar by 57% in November

Sales of new cars in Britain soared by 57.6 per cent in November from sales at the same time last year, industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said yesterday.

New car sales last month jumped to 158,082 vehicles, partly thanks to a government-backed scheme that subsidises the cost of buying a new car.

The jump in sales was a result also of a reduced rate of VAT, or tax levied on goods purchased, while November 2008 had been a particularly weak month for British car purchases as it coincided with the start of the global financial crisis.

"The increase in new car registrations in November reflects the positive impact of the Scrappage Incentive Scheme, customers avoiding the VAT increase and the very difficult conditions we experienced a year ago," said SMMT chief executive officer Paul Everitt.

The November car sales figures match SMMT data for November 2007.

Car sales for the January to November period fell 8.8 per cent to 1.84 million cars, compared with the equivalent period in 2008, the SMMT added.

The scrappage scheme, which was introduced in May and was originally due to end in February, is being extended as Britain remains in recession. The cost of the £2,000-pounds (€2,206) incentive is shared equally between the taxpayer and car manufacturer.

Meanwhile, VAT was cut to 15 per cent last December to help boost consumer spending during Britain's deep recession.

However, the VAT rate is set to return to its pre-recession level of 17.5 per cent rate in January.