UK new car sales fell 11.3 per cent in 2008 according to data provided by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The month of December was predictably quiet but not nearly as bad as expected the society claims. New car registrations fell 21.2 per in December to 108.691 units representing the eighth consecutive month drop in sales.
However the diesel market share was resilient throughout 2008 and reached an all time high of 43.6 per cent by the end of the year. The success of new diesel cars played a large part in the decline in the average new car CO2 emissions (illustrated left) which fell by a record 4.2 per cent to an average of 158.0 g/km in 2008, a total reduction of 16.8 per cent since 1997.
Demand for greener, small cars continued to fare better than for larger vehicles, with the mini segment recording the only growth in 2008 and superminis seeing their market share climb to 33.4 per cent, from 32.1 per cent in 2007.
Technological innovation helped car and CV manufacturers slash CO2 and air quality emissions from vehicles through 2008. New diesel cars for example emit 95 per cent less soot from the tailpipe than those made 15 years ago and average new car CO2 has been cut by 17 per cent since 1997.
The energy needed to produce each vehicle is now down 12 per cent, water use is down 9 per cent and waste to landfill is down 25 per cent, compared to 2006 performance. CO2 emissions per vehicle produced have fallen 14 per cent in the last year and by 45 per cent since 1999. Almost 10,000 tonnes of waste have been prevented from entering landfill sites.
Green cars dominated the list of top selling models of the year. Five of the ten top sellers have variants below 120g/km of CO2. Ford dominated the success stories, as the green Fiesta was the biggest selling model in December shifting 7,204 units, while the most popular car of the year was the Focus, for the tenth consecutive year, selling 101,593 vehicles in the UK through 2008.
The green Vauxhall Corsa was the second most popular model in December selling 6,322 in the UK and the second most popular model of the year selling a total of 99,574 throughout 2008.
