UK car market continued to grow in July

The UK car market continues to go from strength to strength, with July extending the record-breaking period of year-on-year growth into its 29th month.

172,907 new cars were registered last month – a 6.6 per cent increase over July 2013 – according to figures compiled by the Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

• See the top 10 best selling cars in 2014

Attributed in part to the improving economic climate and attractive finance deals, this upward trend means total registrations for the year-to-date have already hit 1,460,172, up 10.1 per cent on this time last year.

“The continued positivity has led to an uplift in the SMMT full year forecast to 2.45 million passenger car registrations, a rise of 8.1%,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes, which would see a return to pre-recession levels. “However, the more moderate growth of the last three months shows that overall demand is beginning to stabilise.”

These latest statistics also reveal the Ford Fiesta continues to dominate the best-sellers table, leading off its Focus stablemate and the Vauxhall Corsa by some distance.

2014 has likewise proved a good year for electric and other alternative fuel vehicles, with 26,629 registered so far. However, while up by a half on 2013, AFVs still only account for 1.8 percent of the market. 

The last few years have seen a massive increase in driverless tech, too. Between 2010 and 2013, the number of cars offered with Adaptive Cruise Control doubled, whilst collision warning systems were standard or optional on over a third of last year’s cars, jumping from only 7 per cent at the turn of the decade. 

Now check out our full list of the UK's best selling cars for 2014 to date...