July saw the 17th successive monthly rise in new car registrations, up 12.7% to 162,228 units, and the SMMT is now predicting that 2013 sales will reach 2.216 million units, 8.4% ahead of 2012.

‘Strong business and consumer confidence in July saw the new car market continue to rise, posting double-digit growth in the month. Now we have evidence of consistent growth, we have raised our forecast for 2013 new car registrations to 2.216 million units, an increase of over 8% on last year,’ said Mike Baunton, SMMT interim chief executive.

‘Recently, we've seen a range of economic indicators point to improving conditions and our raised sales forecast emphasises how positively we view the rest of 2013.’

Sub-25 business registrations saw the sharpest rise last month, up 21.9% compared to July 2012 to 6,912 units.

Fleet registrations were also up in July, with a 12.8% rise compared to the same month last year. In total, 83,767 units were registered last month.

Meanwhile, private registrations rose 11.9% to 71,549 units.

Last month also saw strong take-up of alternatively fuelled vehicles, which grew 17.0% in the month to 2,432 and hit 17,859 units for the January to July period.

Registrations of plug-in cars (pure electric and plug-in hybrids) over the first seven months of 2013 have risen 70.7% from 1,104 units a year ago to 1,885 units in 2013. The SMMT added that already this year, registrations of such vehicles have exceeded 80% of 2012 full year volumes and are 11 times higher than 2010.

The association said the growth reflects increased availability of products across the UK and wider interest from motorists looking to minimise CO2 emissions and take advantage of tax breaks.