UK Car Sales Rise 9.5% Year over Year

British consumers continued to splash out on new cars in August, extending the record unbroken run of sales growth to two-and-a-half years.

New car sales were 9.5% higher than August 2013, with 72,163 vehicles registered, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

It marked the 30th consecutive month of growth in new car sales, the longest since records began in 1959, with consumers spurred on by cheap finance deals and a desire for more fuel-efficient models.

August is typically one of the quietest months for new car sales, falling just before the September plate change and accounting for abound 3% of annual sales. September usually accounts for about 18% of new car sales each year.

Economists said growth in August sent a positive signal about the industry’s short-term health but warned that weak wage growth and the prospect of rising interest rates may start to weigh on the car market.

via The Guardian

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza