Vauxhall managing director Duncan Aldred believes the growth in new car registrations will continue to 2017.

Speaking on Sky News this morning on the publication of the full-year 2013 registration figures - which saw a 10.8% increase on 2012 - he said there would be "modest growth" of 2-3% in 2014 with private buyers coming into the market and bigger fleets replacing their vehicles in line with the broader economic improvement.

"I see continued growth in the new car market through to 2017," Aldred said. "Seeing us get back to levels seen in the mid-2000s." From 2002 to 2004 UK new car registrations exceeded 2.5 million units.

Also, alongside the often quoted reasons behind the improvement in registations in 2013 of PPI refund spend (equivalent to £3,000 per UK household) and cheap credit, Aldred said the strong new car market was due to a third factor: renewed consumer appetite after five years of low demand for new cars due to a restrictive economic climate. The pent up demand is now being released, he said.