The opening six months of 2014 have seen more than a million cars new cars registered in the UK – the best half-year total since 2005.

The 1,287,265 registrations represents a 10.6 per cent rise on last year while June itself saw 228,291 sales – up 6.2 per cent on the previous June.

It was the 28th consecutive month of growth and that’s not expected to stop, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders SMMT).

The total new car sales for 2014 is likely to reach 2.4 million – up more than six per cent on last year.

The SMMT said a consumer demand for efficiency had seen a huge rise in alternatively-fuelled vehicle sales. In the first six months 23,337 have been sold up 51.3 per cent. Meanwhile registrations of pure-electric cars have more than doubled, too.

The Ford Fiesta continues to dominate the best sellers list followed by the Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Focus. Also making the top ten for June – and also the year-to-date – were the Nissan Qashqai, Fiat 500 and VW Golf.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Improving economic conditions have helped propel the UK new car market to a strong first half-year performance.

“Key to attracting consumers is the ever-improving efficiency of new cars. The overall market has risen faster than we were expecting but, after a bumper March, growth is showing signs of stabilising around our forecast level.”