A 12.2% new car sales drop in October saw the seventh consecutive month in decline, with the new figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) sparking a call for action to Chancellor Philip Hammond ahead of this month’s Budget.

The most serious decline is in diesel sales despite the Euro 6 emissions clean-up and the SMMT wants Hammond to move fast to reassure buyers that new diesels won’t be hit by any curbs or penalties.

Overall demand fell, with 158,192 new units registered, as falling confidence among buyers continued to impact the market in the month following the first drop in September registrations – a key market barometer – for six years.

And the drops are all the more serious considering the efforts made by manufacturers to clean-up the country’s air with scrappage deals.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Declining business and consumer confidence is undoubtedly affecting demand in the new car market but this is being compounded by confusion over government policy on diesel.

Consumers need urgent reassurance that the latest, low emission diesel cars on sale will not face any bans, charges or other restrictions, anywhere in the UK.

“We urge the Government to use the forthcoming Autumn Budget to restore stability to the market, encouraging the purchase of the latest low emission vehicles as fleet renewal is the fastest and most effective way of addressing air quality concerns.”

Declines were seen across all sectors, with the biggest volume impacts on fleet, down 13%, and private buyers, down 10.1%, while the smaller business sector fell by 26.8%.

Alternatively Fuelled Vehicle (AFV) demand continued to rise, up 36.9% to 8,244 registrations, while petrol models enjoyed a more modest growth of 2.7%.

However, these gains were unable to offset heavy losses in the diesel segment, as continuing consumer concerns resulted in its biggest hit yet, with demand down 29.9%.

Year-to-date, the overall market is down 4.6% on 2016 levels, with 2,224,603 cars registered in the first 10 months. This aligns with SMMT’s latest forecast for 2017, published last week, with the market expected to end the year on 2.565 million units – a 4.7% decline.

It has been downhill all the way since the March peak on the eve of the new vehicle excise duty rates in April that penalised low emission small cars.

Meanwhile among the best sellers the Ford Fiesta regained its chart-topping title after the launch of the new model range, with September’s leader the Nissan Qashqai back down to fourth and the year-to-date’s second best seller the new VW Golf a strong second for the month ahead of the Ford Focus.