NEW car sales in the Scottish region affected by the downturn in the North Sea industry have slumped over the past year.
The biggest fall in new car registrations occurred in Grampian, where thousands of staff have been laid off by offshore suppliers in the Aberdeen area.
Sales of brand new cars in Grampian fell by just over 10.3 per cent.
A total of 21,353 new cars were registered in the region in 2015 – a drop of 2,463 from the previous year when motorists took the keys to 23,816 new models.
It meant that Scotland missed out another record-breaking year for car sales Yesterday UK Government ministers hinted at more tax cuts for the North Sea in next month's Budget – as oil fell to $32 a barrel.
While new car registrations hit an all-time high in 2015 for the UK as a whole, traders north of the Border fell short of the 2014 record by a margin of just 1,016 vehicle sales.
However, 2015 remains the second-best year on record for new car sales in Scotland with 220,554 units sold - down 0.46 per cent on the previous year.
The sharpest fall in demand occurred in the Grampian region, where new car sales fell more than 10 per cent year-on-year. The dip was blamed on uncertainty in the oil and gas sector.
Meanwhile, Lothian saw the biggest increase in regional demand with sales up almost three per cent year-on-year.
Sandy Burgess, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association (SMTA), which provided the figures, said: “Whilst there is no doubt we are disappointed to note that new car registrations for 2015 narrowly missed producing another record year, a small decline on last year’s total of 0.46 per cent should be taken in full context as in the result for 2014 were an all-time record for Scottish registrations.
The results confirm that the previous four years of consecutive growth have stalled predominately as a result of significant impact of global oil and gas industry slowdown in the North East of Scotland.
"Private share has held up at a fantastic high of 51.73 per cent. This confirms that yet again the Scottish consumer is enjoying driving the newest, cleanest, safest and most efficient vehicles available on unbeatable deals across the country.
"With current levels of strong consumer and business confidence we are confident that the outlook remains positive with every reason to expect the market to hold broadly steady in 2016.”
The Vauxhall Corsa overtook the Ford Fiesta to become the best-selling new car of 2015 in Scotland, selling 11,955 units in total.
Meanwhile, there was a 1.3 per cent decline in sales of Volkswagen cars over the year compared to 2014, driven by a sharp fall in demand in the wake of the emissions scandal in September last year.
UK Energy Secretary Andrea Leadsom said that a range of options were being considered to combat the impact of falling oil prices.
The latest price drops are being blamed on uncertainty due to the Chinese economy and stockpiling in the US of oil.
Hannah Bardell, the SNP's business spokesman, asked Tory ministers about UK Government support for the sector.
In response, Ms Leadsom said that further tax breaks were “certainly on the table”.
But she also called on the industry to cut its production costs.
Mr Osborne announced tax cuts thought to have been worth around £1.3 billion in last year's Budget.
The industry body Oil and Gas UK this week announced the first rise in oil and gas production for more than 15 years, but warned of tough times and jobs losses ahead.
Scottish Conservative north east MSP Alex Johnstone said: "Thousands of people both in the north east and across Scotland depend on oil and gas for the livelihoods and this will be a devastating blow," he said.
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