New car sales dipped last month as consumers felt the credit crunch, it was announced today.

New car sales dipped last month as consumers felt the credit crunch, it was announced today.

A total of 209,190 new vehicles were registered in June 2008 - a 6.1% fall on the June 2007 figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

Diesel is now much pricier at the pumps than petrol, but sales of diesel-powered vehicles increased 4.5% last month, accounting for a 42.8% share of the market.

SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said: "We are now seeing concerns about rising fuel bills and household costs dampening consumer confidence, leading to slower demand for new cars.

"This slowdown is not unexpected, but signals an increasingly tough retail environment.

"Cost pressures, environmental concerns and technological advances have ensured consumers have taken the choice of buying more efficient vehicles, and record numbers of cars are now in the lowest CO2 vehicle excise duty bands.

"The share of cars in the A band (the least-polluting vehicles) has increased more than tenfold in the past year."

Overall, new vehicle registrations for the first half of 2008 fell 1.6% to 1,247,479.

Last month saw Vauxhall take the two top spots in the best-selling models' table for the first time since February 2008.

The Vauxhall Corsa was the number one seller last month - the first time this model has topped the table since September 2004. Second was the Vauxhall Astra, with the Ford Fiesta - which normally heads the table - third.

Vauxhall also took the highest share of the new car market, with 14.88% last month, pushing Ford (13.33%) into second place.

These were the top 10 sellers in June 2008: 1. Vauxhall Corsa 2. Vauxhall Astra 3. Ford Fiesta 4. Ford Focus 5. BMW 3 Series 6. Volkswagen Golf 7. Mini 8. Vauxhall Zafira 9. Peugeot 207 10.Vauxhall Vectra