The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has revised its new car registration forecast up to 2.106 million units, a 49,000 unit increase on the previous estimate of 2.057m units.

The new figure is a 3% increase on the 2012 total of 2.045m units and the SMMT is expecting diesel to take 49% of the market.

The forecast for the 2014 new car market is 2.123m units, up 0.8% on the 2013 forecast volume. Diesel is also expected to account for 49% of the market next year.

The SMMT’s forecast is based on an average of forecasts received from members’ analysts own company views.

New van registrations are also expected to be up by 5.7% this year, an increase of 253,000 units. The forecast for 2014 is expected to be up by 2.1% on the 2013 forecast volume.

The forecasts are next scheduled to be revised on the week commencing July 29.