The new car market has risen by more than 10 per cent in the first half of 2014, new figures from the SMMT have revealed.
1,287,265 new cars were registered in the first six months of the year, marking the best half-year total since 2005.
June also saw new car registrations rise, with figures up by 6.2 per cent from last year.
If the market continues at this rate, 2.4 million cars could be sold by the end of the year - a 6 per cent increase on 2013's figures.
The Ford Fiesta remains Britain's best-selling car, followed by the Vauxhall Corsa, Ford Focus, VW Golf and Vauxhall Astra. The Nissan Qashqai is sixth, with the Vauxhall Insignia, Fiat 500, BMW 3 Series and Audi A3 rounding off the top ten.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: "Improving economic conditions have helped propel the UK new car market to a strong first half-year performance, with registrations up 10.6% on the same period in 2013.
"Key to attracting consumers is the ever-improving efficiency of new cars, an important factor that is highlighted by the 51.3% increase in alternatively-fuelled vehicle registrations so far this year. The overall market has risen faster than we were expecting but, after a bumper March, growth is showing signs of stabilising around our forecast level."
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