Ford were among the better performers in June's new car sales figures, which have been boosted by the success of the UK's scrappage incentive scheme.
Ford was the UK’s biggest selling manufacturer, selling 29,803 units, an increase of four per cent on June 2008. The Ford Fiesta was the top selling car in June, ahead of the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Corsa.
Year-on-year sales for the market as a whole were down by 15.74 per cent, the smallest fall since July 2008, while the market shift towards smaller cars continued.
Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT, said: “We are now beginning to see the positive impact of the scrappage scheme translate into new vehicle registrations.
“We're seeing significant numbers of people back into dealerships. We haven't seen the end of the problems, but we've seen the worst of the problems.”
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Everitt warned that sales may not be as high for the rest of the summer, but the market was now on its way to recovery.
“SMMT expects the pace of improvement to increase in the coming months, but we can already see the industry making steady progress on the long road to recovery.
“What we're seeing is a fairly steady rate of return. I don't think we'll see as much business in August as we did in June.”
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Hyundai sales were up by 91.1 per cent to 5265 units, while Kia also recorded strong sales figures with 4945 units, up 60.5 per cent. Alfa Romeo also had a strong month, with sales up by 30.9 per cent to 935 units.
Vauxhall sales were down 34.5 per cent to 20,990, while Hummer managed to sell one car.
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