Of the 158,082 sales last month, 21.6% were attributable to the car scrappage scheme, which is due to end in February or when funds run out, whichever is sooner.

CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Paul Everitt, said: “The increase in new car registrations in November reflects the positive impact of the scrappage incentive scheme, customers avoiding the VAT increase in January and the very difficult conditions that we experienced a year ago.”

After Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said last week that the industry would have to cope with returning to normal market conditions, Everitt urged the Government to consider extending the scheme in its Pre-Budget report on Wednesday, noting that there was just an estimated £125m of funding remaining.

The November figures took new vehicle sales to more than 1.84m for the first 11 months of year, but this represents a drop of 8.8% on the same period last year. Full year estimates are for 1.95m sales versus 2.13m in 2008.

RAC motorist strategist Adrian Tink said: “We are still concerned about what will happen once the scheme ends and the discount bubble burst.” 

Edmund King, president of the AA noted of the new cars purchased through the scheme: “These cars are cleaner, greener and safer”, whilst making reference to a recent poll suggesting 13% of drivers would consider buying a new car if the scheme was extended.

UK manufacturing leader at Deloitte, David Raistrick said: “We may see interest rates increase next year. Furthermore, car manufacturers may find themselves needing to implement price rises due to the low value of sterling increasing the cost of imported cars and parts. The automotive sector must be prepared to deal with these challenges in order to ensure a long-lasting recovery.”

The BMW Mini - Major Sales

Year-on-year new car registrations fell by nearly 16% in June, compared to the 25% fall in May. However, the Car Scrappage Scheme has started to have a positive affect on the UK motor industry with this fall in sales being the smallest since July 2008.  

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) confirmed 176,264 units (cars and vans) were sold in June, with the Scrappage Scheme, which commenced on 18 May, accounting for approximately 10% of these sales.

Interestingly, private buyer registrations increased 3.9% year-on-year – recording the first rise since November 2007.

The SMMT also confirmed 29,796 vehicles had been sold under the Car Scrappage Scheme since commencement, while Government statistics state that c.87,000 orders had been placed up to 21 June 2009.

As predicted by the Car Scrappage Team, buyers have used the Scrappage Scheme to purchase the smaller, fuel efficient cars, with the “mini” market achieving 145.4% growth over the year and the “super-mini’s” making a record 37.2% share of this market.

Having initially planned for the scheme to last until March 2010, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills stated that the Scrappage Scheme would effectively be exhausted by the end of October based on the current buying rate.

Industry experts and car dealers have petitioned the Government to extend the scheme as has been done in Germany. However, at present the Government department has no plans to extend it.