New car sales plunge amid warnings over Brexit

The latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show a 20.5 percent fall over the course of the month, which it said was due to new testing requirements, which it said have affected supply and distorted the market.

Some 338,834 vehicles were registered in the month, down around 87,000 on the previous year.

Meanwhile, Nissan released a statement warning a no-deal Brexit would have “serious implications” for the industry.

The Japanese firm, which employs almost 7,000 people at its Sunderland plant, urged the UK and the EU to "work towards a balanced Brexit".

“Our British-based R&D and design teams support the development of products made in Sunderland, specifically for the European market,” it said.

“Frictionless trade has enabled the growth that has seen our Sunderland plant become the biggest factory in the history of the UK car industry, exporting more than half of its production to the EU.

“Today we are among those companies with major investments in the UK who are still waiting for clarity on what the future trading relationship between the UK and the EU will look like.

“As a sudden change from those rules to the rules of the WTO will have serious implications for British industry, we urge UK and EU negotiators to work collaboratively towards an orderly balanced Brexit that will continue to encourage mutually beneficial trade.”