Fiesta leads Top 10 as new car sales leap 14 per cent

'The UK continues to perform well ahead of the troubled eurozone'

The new Ford Fiesta

New car sales raced ahead last month, according to official figures.

There were a total of 163,357 new registrations in April 2013 - a 14.8 per cent rise on the April 2012 figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

The April 2013 increase was the 14th successive monthly rise. It took the total of new car sales for the year so far to 768,555 - a 8.9 per cent increase on the January-April 2012 total.

SMMT interim chief executive Mike Baunton said: "The UK new car market continues to perform surprisingly strongly, with volumes again increasing in April.

"While the headline increase was up almost 15 per cent, there were more sales days this year than last."

He went on: "The UK continues to perform well ahead of the troubled eurozone as consumer confidence, regular purchase cycles, attractive finance deals and wider market factors continue to make new car buying favourable for motorists."

Private sales were up more than 32 per cent last month and have grown more than 15 per cent so far this year.

These were the best-selling models in April 2013:

1. Ford Fiesta
2. Vauxhall Corsa
3. Ford Focus
4. Volkswagen Golf
5. Vauxhall Astra
6. Nissan Qashqai
7. Volkswagen Polo
8. Fiat 500
9. Peugeot 208
10.Audi A3