Diesel cars now more popular than petrol-driven vehicles as Britons re-evaluate their budgets
Sales of diesel cars in Britain have overtaken petrol-driven vehicles for the first time, as drivers choose fuel efficiency over speed, research has shown.Once only fit for the slow lane, diesel cars were a record 50.6 per cent of new car registrations in July, rising 11.8 per cent while petrol car registrations declined by 13.2 per cent, as consumers tightened their belts fearful of a double dip recession.
AFV, or alternative fuel vehicles rose 53 per cent to take 1.4 per cent of the market share, the survey by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) found.
Cost effective: Diesel cars have now overtaken their petrol driven counterparts for the first time as Britons consider fuel efficiency
Nervous motorists held off buying new cars in July with car registrations as a whole down 13.2 per cent.
Petrol car registrations, which benefited from the government's scrappage scheme which stopped accepting new orders in March, were down sharply.
Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive, said: 'A drop in private registrations compared to the scrappage-fuelled months of 2009 was expected and has brought the first market decline for 12 months.
'Subdued consumer confidence and a still fragile economic recovery make the outlook for the remainder of 2010 challenging, but a stronger than expected first half means full-year volumes are still forecast to exceed 2009's total.'
Diesel fuel has become more popular as technology has improved.
The latest figures show diesel cars are at their most popular since they first hit British shores in large numbers after the second world war. The invention of turbo-charged direct injection (TDI) engines in the 1980s contributed to the rise in popularity.
The last 'dash-to-diesel' was in 2005 when fuel protests and Hurricane Katrina pushed petrol prices skyhigh. At the time there was little difference in price between diesel and petrol so diesel cars – with their higher fuel efficiency – were in demand.
But since then the price of diesel has fluctuated with the world economy and could soar as the recession comes to an end.
The AA have given consumers about two years before diesel prices start to climb again.
Four-by-four sales also climbed with sports utility vehicles (SUVs) accounting for one in eight new cars registered in July.
The Ford Fiesta was the best selling model of car in July, followed by the Vauxhall models Astra and Corsa.
Sales for the year so far - January to July - totalled 1.3 million - a 15.% rise on the recession-hit first seven months of last year
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