The UK’s car scrappage scheme appears to be helping reinvigorate the automotive industry.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), new car registrations in the UK fell by 15.7% in June, the smallest monthly decline since July 2008.

The number of new car registrations in June fell to 176,264 units.

Despite figures showing yet another decline, the car scrappage scheme appears to be easing the car market’s slowdown with June’s monthly total being considerably less than May’s.
 
June’s total means that demand has fallen by 25.9% in the year to date.

The car scrappage scheme was launched by the government on 18 May and offers car owners £2,000 to scrap cars older than 10-years-old for a new car. The £2,000 will be paid jointly by the government and the automotive industry.

The latest results show a continuing positive trend in the sales of smaller cars, with the mini and supermini categories performing particularly well.

The increasing popularity of smaller cars has helped the average new car CO² emissions to a new low of 152.3g/km.

Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive, said: “We are now beginning to see the positive impact of the scrappage scheme translate into new vehicle registrations.

“SMMT expects the pace of improvement to increase in coming months, but we can already see the industry making steady progress on the long road to recovery.”