New car sales rose again last month, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show.

There were 189,514 new registrations in June 2012 - a 3.49% increase on the June 2011 total.

Last month's purchases took year-so-far sales to 1,057,680 - a 2.72% rise on January-June 2011.

Private sales did well last month, rising 9.8% compared with June 2011, and are up 8.7% for the first half of this year.

Total new car sales for the April-June 2012 period have risen 4.8% and the SMMT reckons year-end sales will reach 1.95 million - just ahead of last year's 1.94 million total.

SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said: "Despite domestic and international economic concerns, UK motorists are responding positively to new products and the latest fuel-efficient technology.

"The industry has performed better than expected in the first half of the year and we will now need to work hard to sustain growth."

There was a 47.8% rise in sales of alternatively-fuelled vehicles last month, while diesel sales also rose and have accounted for 51.2% of total sales in the first half of 2012.

The Press Association, photo by UK in India