The new car market is still on track for a record year, despite a sales dip of 1.1% in October, according to CAP.

CAP says that even if there is no growth in November and December, the market will still post 2.6 million registrations in 2015.

Philip Nothard, CAP consumer and retail editor, says the slowdown in Q4 is to be expected after exceptional growth in 2014.

He said: “Q4 2014 saw the highest year-on-year growth of that year, which had a 14.24% increase on 2013, across the year.

“October 2015 had a lot to live up to, in terms of performance, so it’s no surprise that we’ve seen a slight slip in numbers.  While Volkswagen's sales fell by 9.8%, other manufacturers reported a greater decline in sales.

“Vauxhall sales were down by 16.4%, Nissan by 12.9% and Mitsubishi by 11.9%.  A little levelling out is to be expected, rather than a sign of a downturn in the market.”

Nothard said a poor registrations performance in November and December would still mean 2015 would be the fourth highest year in a decade.

He said: “The sentiment within the franchise dealers, is that even with the high levels of pre-registration stock in the market on the back of recent months, there is still no easing for target expectations and the consumer incentives remain extremely attractive.”