NEW car sales surged ahead again last month as the recovery in the motor industry continued, it was revealed yesterday.

A total of 397,383 new cars were sold in March – 26.6 per cent more than in March last year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

The figures should be judged against a March market last year that was more than 30 per cent down on March 2008.

The increase was helped by another strong performance by Nissan Sunderland, which continues to see soaring demand for several of its models, most notably the Qashqai.

Last month saw the final days of the Government’s cash for bangers car scrappage scheme which kickstarted the ailing new car market after its introduction last May.

The SMMT said the scrappage scheme accounted for 12.2 per cent of all new registrations last month.

Due to the level of take-up of the scrappage option, Nissan has extended its own scheme, which applies to vehicles seven years old or more, to the end of June.

While national sales in the first three months of last year were nearly 30 per cent down on the January to March 2008 period, registrations for the first quarter of this year have been 27.3 per cent up on the same period of last year.

SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt added: ‘‘The UK motor industry has enjoyed a better than anticipated first quarter of 2010.

“A strong March performance was underpinned by the scrappage incentive and improving demand in the fleet sector.

“The coming months will remain challenging and headline registration numbers are expected to dip, but underlying demand will continue to improve slowly.”