Sales of new cars in the UK plummeted in March, down by 15.7 percent compared with March last year.

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed the biggest drop in demand since April 2017 and point toward the broader trend seen over the past year.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of SMMT, said: “Consumer and business confidence has taken a knock in recent months and a thriving new car market is essential to the overall health of our economy.”

“This means creating the right economic conditions for all types of consumers to have the confidence to buy new vehicles,” he added.

The knock on sales has taken a particular dent from the fall in demand for diesel cars. Sales in diesel cars dropped 37.2 percent in March.

March regularly sees positive results, driven by the higher demand for the new number plates. However, Hawes said it would have been difficult to beat last year.

“March’s decline is not unexpected, given the huge surge in registrations in the same month last year,” he said.

“Despite this, the market itself is relatively high with the underlying factors in terms of consumer choice, finance availability and cost of ownership all highly competitive. Consumer and business confidence, however, has taken a knock in recent months and a thriving new car market is essential to the overall health of our economy.”

Despite the fall in diesel car sales, the sale of petrol and plug-in and hybrid sales increased in March by 0.5 percent and 5.7 percent respectively.

“All technologies, regardless of fuel type, have a role to play in helping improve air quality while meeting our climate change targets, so government must do more to encourage consumers to buy new vehicles rather than hang on to their older, more polluting vehicles,” said Hawes.