The UK new car market achieved modest growth in August as registrations rose 3.3% against the same month last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
There were 81,640 new cars registered in the month, with year-to-date performance remaining positive, up 2.8% to 1.68 million units.
The fleet sector drove the growth buoyed by attractive finance deals and discounts, rising 7.7% to 43,267.
Private registrations fell slightly by -0.2%. Diesel demand also fell marginally by -0.2%, with petrol registrations edging ahead 5.3% and alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFV) seeing significant growth of 30.8%.
Almost 54,000 AFVs have been registered so far in 2016, compared with just over 44,000 last year.
Leaders Ford and Vauxhall saw market share slightly down, but Volkswagen plunged 25%, contrasting with strong growth by Nissan, Honda, Renault and SEAT and while Land Rover sales significantly rose close to 45%, stablemate Jaguar went down over 13%.
August top ten
Fiesta, Focus, Corsa, Astra, Golf, Polo, Mokka, Sportage, Kuga & Qashqai
New car sales in Wales fell by the highest percentage in the UK last month.
Welsh car buyers produced a 3.4% decline to 2,492 while England and Northern Ireland enjoyed rising sales compared to 12 months earlier.
Wales top ten
Fiesta, Kuga, Mokka, Focus, C-Max, Polo, Corsa, Sandero, EcoSport and Zafira.