UK car sales hit record levels for first half of 2015

The UK car market has seen record figures for the first half of 2015, with more cars sold in the past six months than in any other equivalent period.

A total of 1,376,889 cars were registered in the UK in the first six months of the year - a rise of 7% over the equivalent period in 2014. This beat the previous record, which stood at 1,376,565 in the first half of 2004.

June was also the 40th consecutive month of increased sales, with 257,817 cars sold. This marked a rise of 12.9% over June 2014.

The increase is down to a high level of registrations to the fleet sector, although the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said private sales were also performing well.

Alternatively fuelled vehicles, such as electric cars and plug-in hybrids, have continued their strong performances of recent months, with sales up by as much as 70.9% year on year.

The biggest selling car in June was the Ford Fiesta, with the Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Focus coming in second and third respectively. The Volkswagen Golf and Nissann Qashqai ound out the top five. The same five cars make up the top five performers for sales in 2015 as a whole so far.