Although AM (November 8 issue ) which went to press this week points to provisional figures suggesting a 2.5 per cent downturn in new car registrations in October, a late flurry of postal sales notifications have pushed up the final total for the month much nearer to year-earlier levels.The final October sales figures released by the SMMT today point to a total of 184,145 registrations, which is just 0.6 per cent down on the record sales in October 2001. And the SMMT says that the industry is still well on target for a record year for sales. It has raised its year-end forecast to 2.54m units.

Says SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan: "After a dip in September registrations, it is encouraging to see the market stabilise in October. Overall, this year has been a story of growth driven by two key segments - sales of small cars and demand for diesel models.

"The industry had expected the new car market to cool in the latter half of the year, but demand remains strong." For the final October new car registrations, by manufacturer, go to the smmt website: Click here