NEW car sales in Scotland fell last month for the first time in more than two years as the pace of growth in the market slowed.

The total number of new car registrations in April was 15,401, down by more than 3 per cent compared to the same time last year when 15,892 new cars were registered.

The UK as a whole experienced an increase of 5.07 per cent, with 185,778 units registered against 176,820 for April last year.

Figures from the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) show that the Ford Fiesta remains Scotland's favourite car, with 870 leaving forecourts last month.

Next in line was the Vauxhall Corsa, followed by the Volkswagen Polo and the Dacia Sandero.

Douglas Robertson, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association, admitted the figures were disappointing, but stressed that the fall came after a boom time for the industry.

He said: "Obviously we are a little disappointed to see a reduction. However bearing in mind that March was a record month for Scotland we should not be too surprised.

"We have been saying for some months that we were expecting a levelling out of the market through 2015 so perhaps this is the start.

"We have been advised, however, by our member dealers that there remains a high level of activity in showrooms and we will continue to anticipate satisfactory figures for the remainder of the year and for as long as the excellent finance deals now available remain on the market."

Ford remains the most popular car maker in Scotland, with 1394 models sold last month, followed with Vauxhall with 1330.

At the top-end of the market, two Ferraris were delivered to their owners last month, along with one Rolls-Royce.

Economists say that car sales remained strong in other areas and that their continued buoyancy reflected ongoing growth in the economy as a whole.

Dr Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Global Insight said: "It is unrealistic to expect car sales to keep achieving strong growth rates through 2015 given that they are now at such an elevated level.

"In fact, having led growth in the sector in 2013 and 2014, private car sales growth has been limited to 1.4 per cent year-on-year through the first four months of 2014.

"However, there have been particularly strong fleet sales which were up 9.0 per cent year-on-year in April itself and 13.4 per cent year-on-year during January-April."