Last month saw a huge resurgence in new fleet car sales, with a 24.4% rise in registrations compared to January 2008.

There were 72,726 new fleet cars registered in January 2010, a year-on-year increase of 14,280, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders.

SMMT boss Paul Everitt said: "Industry expects another difficult year with the availability of finance, consumer confidence and sustaining demand post-scrappage, key to performance in the second half of the year, but signs of recovery in the fleet and business sectors are encouraging."