NEW car sales in Scotland increased almost 12% in November, according to figures from The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Data shows there were 13,191 vehicles sold in the month, compared with 11,794 in 2011.

Scotland performed slightly ahead of the overall UK figures, which showed an 11.35% increase in November driven by growth in private sales.

For the first 11 months of 2012 there had been 172,477 sales in Scotland, which is almost 10% up on last year.