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More new cars were sold in 2010 than in 2009, thanks largely to the popularity of the Government's scrappage scheme. With 2.03 million new cars finding owners last year, sales were up 1.8 per cent on 2009.

New car sales got off to a strong start last year, with a 19.9 per cent jump for the first half of the year compared with the same point in 2009. The demise of the scrappage scheme in March meant sales for the second half of the year fell by 13.8 per cent.

The scheme led to 100,000 sales in 2010, accounting for five per cent of the year's sales. But it was the company car market that bolstered sales overall, with fleet sales increasing by 10 per cent year-on-year.

The new car market is still very fragile though. The 2010 figures are the second-lowest of the past decade, 375,000 down on 2007 levels and sales are forecast to dip further this year, to just 1.93 million units.

UK-built models proved more popular than ever however, while diesel popularity continued to grow - 46.1 per cent of buyers opted for a diesel car.

The best-selling model of the year was the Ford Fiesta - the second year in a row it achieved this - while Ford was also the best-selling brand overall. The best sellers in full were:

For all of 2010:

1. Ford Fiesta 103,013
2. Vauxhall Astra 80,646
3. Ford Focus 77,804
4. Vauxhall Corsa 77,938
5. Volkswagen Golf 58,116
6. Volkswagen Polo 45,517
7. Peugeot 207 42,185
8. BMW 3 Series 42,020
9. MINI 41,883
10. Nissan Qashqai 39,048

For December only:

1. Vauxhall Astra 5,377
2. Vauxhall Corsa 4,737
3. Ford Fiesta 4,560
4. MINI 4,236
5. Ford Focus 3,831
6. Volkswagen Polo 3,724
7. Volkswagen Golf 3,267
8. Nissan Qashqai 2,841
9. Vauxhall Insignia 2,587
10. BMW 3 Series 2,477

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