Car sales fall 21.2 pct on the year in December

LONDON (Reuters) - British new car registrations fell 21.2 percent on the year in December, the Society of Motor Traders and Manufacturers said on Wednesday.

That took the number of cars sold down to 108,691 units. New car registrations in 2008 as a whole, were down 11.3 percent compared with the previous year to 2,131,795 units. "The global economic downturn, precipitated by the crisis in the international banking and finance sector, created unprecedented challenges for the UK automotive industry in 2008," said SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt. "2009 will be another difficult year for the UK automotive industry with new vehicle registrations and production significantly reduced."