New Car Sales Soar As High Street Drowns

New car sales accelerated by almost 10% in August, according to industry figures, as a separate report highlighted the damage caused to high street spending by wet summer weather.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 79,060 vehicles left showrooms last month - a rise of 9.6% on August 2014.

Mike Hawes, its chief executive, said: "August's strong performance has again been driven by attractive finance deals and a diverse range of technologically advanced models.

"Britain's budget-conscious buyers are taking advantage of low regular monthly payments that provide certainty and affordability."

He added: "With September's new 65-plate now in full swing, we expect UK showrooms to be as busy as ever."

The SMMT also said it did not believe there was a link between falling fuel prices and rising car sales as oil costs hover near six-and-a-half year lows.

The sale of new vehicles is already on course to smash the organisation's expectations for 2015, up by almost 7% so far.

The same cannot be said for the high street.

A report by business advisory firm BDO found stores endured their worst month of falling sales since the financial crisis.

The study blamed wet weather and a lack of discounting for a 4.3% plunge in sales compared to the same month a year ago.

BDO said the biggest fall since November 2008 was driven by a lack of demand for fashion though retailers had the chance to bounce back this month if cooler weather helped stoke demand for autumn ranges.

The report said consumers deserted the high street in favour of spending abroad, with the strength of the pound making purchases overseas attractive.

EasyJet reported earlier this week that it had seen a surge in demand for late August breaks , given the soggy conditions.

Halfords said bike sales were damaged by the rain while John Lewis reported another difficult week for sales, falling 3.4% at its department stores during the final week of August following a drop of almost 6% over the previous seven days.

BDO added that "political and macroeconomic uncertainty" was weighing on shoppers' minds - at a time of turbulence in stock markets prompted by fears over the Chinese economy and the possibility of a UK interest rate hike next year.