Volumes reached 158,735 units, buoyed by sales of oil burners, which took 45.3 per cent of the monthly new car market.

The SMMT said it expected year-to-date registrations to surpass 2.4 million units – a considerable improvement on its initial forecast of 2.315 million sales.

November figures once again bettered expectations and represented the eighth monthly growth of the year. Despite concerns over consumer spending due to the US credit crunch, retail sales rose 2.5 per cent year-on-year to 65,970 units – equivalent to a 41.6 per cent market share. Fleet sales rose 2.6 per cent to take a 53.4 per cent share with 84,782 units but business sales fell. Although volumes were better than expected the SMMT said concerns remained about how the market would fare next year. The trade body said it was uncertain about the sustainability of sales growth in light of the global credit crunch and cost pressures on both consumers and businesses.