The SMMT have released figures showing that 1,941,253 new cars were sold in 2011, a fall of 4.4% on 2010. Although, overall registrations were 0.9% ahead of the SMMT's 1.92 million unit forecast, the figure in December fell by 3.7% to 119,188 units and the market was down 1.8% in quarter four.

Talking about the numbers, SMMT CEO Paul Everitt said, "2011 proved to be a challenging year for the UK motor industry. Total new car registrations were slightly ahead of industry expectations at 1.94 million units, still down 4.4% on 2010. Weak economic growth will make trading conditions tough in 2012, but record numbers of new and updated models, significantly improved fuel efficiency and exciting new technologies will help to encourage consumers into showrooms. Business and consumer confidence will be the key to a successful year, so it will be important that government delivers on its growth strategy and helps to resolve instability in the Euro Zone."

By way of commentary, the SMMT statistics show that diesel and alternatively fuelled cars both took record market shares during 2011 with a corresponding drop in average CO2 emissions to a new low of 138.1g/km in 2011, down 4.2% on the 2010 level.

Scrappage aided markets till mid year. In the second half of 2011 the market was down just 1.1% on a year ago with registrations supported by fleet sales, with the private market recording a drop in volumes.

As far as forcasting is concerned, in September 2011, the SMMT was predicting that the new car market in 2012 would hold at 1.964 million units and grow to 2.047 million units in 2013. The trade body is now saying that since those forecasts were made, other independent forecasts for the UK economy have been downgraded, with concerns in particular over the Euro Zone crisis and consumer confidence pointing to a potential decline in car sales for 2012.