New car sales in December dropped less than expected according to latest figures from the SMMT, while a BCA report on used car prices suggests residual values may also be steadying.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures show new car registrations in December fell 21.2% to 108,691 units, a smaller monthly fall than the 35% that had been predicted – possibly due to the VAT reduction.
That brings the full year sales total to 2,131,795 units in 2008, down 11.3% from the year before.
The SMMT figures also show that diesel market share reached an all time high of 43.6 percent, while average CO2 emissions fell by a record 4.2% to an average of 158.0g/km.
1) Ford Focus – 101,593
2) Vauxhall Corsa – 99,574
3) Ford Fiesta – 94,989
4) Vauxhall Astra – 90,641
5) VW Golf – 65,029
6) Peugeot 207 – 53,462
7) BMW 3 Series – 49,384
8) Ford Mondeo – 44,150
9) Vauxhall Zafira – 43,169
10) Vauxhall Vectra – 42,555
In the used car sector BCA says average values improved slightly for the second month running in December, but are well behind the levels of one year ago.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 4 3"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)