Private buyers are being put off by higher finance costs
Car sales to households have suffered the sharpest slump in more than a year as high prices and borrowing costs squeeze drivers.
The number of cars sold to families and individuals dropped 8pc in August to 32,071, down from 34,891 the prior year – the biggest drop for 14 months and the worst August for more than a decade.
Experts said consumers had been put off in particular by the high cost of electric cars, as well as the cost of financing new car purchases which has shot up on the back of rising interest rates.
Broader car sales however were buoyed by so-called fleet buyers operating on behalf of companies, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, an industry body.