The average UK motor dealer produced a strong profit in June making just over £31,000, as the sector continues to reap the benefits of ongoing growth in new car registration figures.

According to ASE figures released today, this represents a profit of more £45,000 for the second quarter and an improvement of over £4,000 compared with June 2013.

The average dealership is £57,000 ahead of the prior year on a rolling 12-month basis emphasizing the strength of motor retail profitability at the current time.

ASE chairman Mike Jones said: "The result continues to be driven by the vehicle sales department, with the quarter end bonuses driving profitability.

"With the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders revising upwards once more their estimate of total registrations for 2014 (to 2.45 million units) we should see continued growth in profits as we move through the second half of the year.

He said that while dealers are certainly being pushed to sell ever increasing volumes of vehicles, profits are now being made consistently across the year rather than in just the peak registration months of March and September.

"The good news is not restricted to new vehicle sales, with used cars continuing to perform well.

"We continue to see a steady improvement in aftersales performance.

"Overall service department labour efficiency has now increased for 11 straight months, albeit by small increments.

"This trend should continue as we see the demand produced by the large volumes of new and used vehicles sold over the past two years utilising the spare capacity in the workshop. This should, in turn, lead to a continuation of the small improvements in overhead absorption."

ASE dealer June 2014 performance stats