Ian Simpson, sales and marketing director at The Warranty Group, said: “The generally strong performance of the motor industry over the last year has been one of the brighter spots in an otherwise grim economic picture, so dealers could expect little or no specific help from the Budget and have not been disappointed. Announcements such as the freezing of fuel duty were widely forecasted in advance and there were no rabbits pulled from the hat.

"There was nothing that is likely to have any real impact on our sector. To continue to drive forward dealer profitability, we believe that the best franchise and independent dealers will continue to concentrate on the basics – creating strong new and used car propositions and capturing increasing levels of aftersales work.”

Edmund King, AA president, said: "A September a fuel duty hike would have been the last straw likely to break UK drivers' budgets and would have led to a summer of discontent. The freeze is a pragmatic move and will bring some relief at the pumps. Already 76% of AA members are cutting back on journeys, household expenditure or both, due to the high cost of fuel.

"With current fuel prices at 138.42 for petrol and 145.24 for diesel, drivers will welcome the scrapping of the fuel duty hike with relief rather than with joy. Prices are almost 5p a litre higher than when the Chancellor froze fuel duty in March 2011."

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “Through this move the chancellor will lose about £1bn a year in duty and VAT income, but tens of thousands of people will be saved from being forced to give up their cars against a backdrop of generally rising running costs."

Andy Cullwick, head of marketing at Manheim, said: "The Manheim Dealer Confidence Barometer showed that dealers had a mixed year in 2012, but were generally more confident about their prospects in 2013.

"There has been little in the Budget to impact upon that sentiment. Indeed, 83% of people who responded to the Barometer felt that used car sales would either improve or stay at similar levels to 2012, while 65% expected to see a stabilisation or improvement in profit margins. Aftersales has become a much more significant part of a dealers profitability and this is where the strategy focus should be placed over the coming months.

“The planned changes in corporate and employment taxation seem to be, in the first instance, positive for the many SME dealerships throughout the UK. The motor trade is an industry which encompasses many types of business and it is important that there is confidence in the marketplace going forward to allow employment and investment decisions to be made. It remains to be seen how the proposed changes announced in today’s Budget will be rolled out in practical terms for the industry.”