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North-east sales of new cars plunged in May

New car sales were down by more than 10% in Grampian
New car sales were down by more than 10% in Grampian

New car sales in the Grampian area plunged by more than 10% during May in a further sign of a troubled north-east economy.

New trade figure show a total of 1,533 registrations in Grampian last month, down from 1,709 in May 2015, while the Highlands suffered a 9% fall to 770.

By contrast, sales across Scotland grew by about 2.4%.

The Scottish Motor Trade Association (SMTA) said the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed an “interesting split in fortunes starting to become evident” north of the border.

SMTA chief executive Sandy Burgess added: “May has been a strong month for many within our industry.

“Growth has come back to the central territories and this is most welcome.

“We are, however, seeing some drop off in the northern territories … and, in particular, once again Grampian.”

Other parts of Scotland also showed decline but strong growth in sales in the Strathclyde and central regions drove an overall rise in the May total.

SMMT said a total of 16,357 cars were registered north of the border last month, up from 16,748 in May 2015.

UK figures showed a 2.5% jump to 203,585 vehicles, with only Northern Ireland failing to deliver an increase.

SMMT said the UK total made it the best May since 2002, partly fuelled by a 5% rise in demand for diesel cars offsetting a small decline of 0.6% for petrol vehicles.

Demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles increased by 12.1%.

A total of 1,164,870 cars have been registered around the UK in 2016 so far, up 4.1% on the same period last year.

But May was the second consecutive month of sub-3% growth across Britain, suggesting the market is stabilising following a record 2015.