UK new car sales increased 10.8% in June compared with the same month last year, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

A total of 195,226 new cars were sold in June, meaning that in the six months from January to June there were 1,208,662 new registrations, a 19.9% rise on the first half of 2009.

These figures are impressive considering that the government's scrappage scheme - which offered new car buyers a £2,000 discount if they scrapped a car that was more than 10 years old - finished at the end of March.

"The new car market continued to perform above expectations in June but the industry still expects challenging economic conditions in the second half of the year," said SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt.