First-half sales of new cars in UK pass 1m for first time since before Covid

Figures are a relief for the recovering industry but the growth is almost entirely business and fleet buyers

Carmakers have sold more than a million cars in the UK in the first half of the year for the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic as the sector gradually recovers from years of turmoil.

Sales in the first six months of 2024 rose by 6% to just over 1m, compared with 949,000 in the same period last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the UK industry's lobby group.