Increase in sales for new cars

New car sales have increased by 30% in the last year, a new survey has revealed.

The car industry had estimated total sales of approximately 115,000-120,000 units at the start of 2015, and the final tally has exceeded predictions.

This is the second year running that sales have increased by a factor of 30%.

 125,950 new cars were registered in 2015, up from 96,000 units in 2014 - which was also a 30% increase on 74,000 units registered in 2013.

This marks the highest number of new cars sold since the economic crash in 2008.

In 2007, during the boom, 186,000 new cars were sold in one year.

New car sales sharply declined in 2009, and despite minor increases in 2010 and 2011, sales decreased again in 2012, and 2013.

Of the new cars sold in 2015, 71% were Diesel, while 27% of new cars sold were Petrol.

Petrol sales, however, increased by 40%, while diesel sales only increased by 26%.

The most popular cars for drivers were the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Octavia, Ford Fiesta, with black and silver the most popular colours.