UK car registrations have fallen behind the rest of Europe, with a 6.4% decline between January and June.

Jato has reported that European car sales were up 2.7% overall, with a record 8.6 million registrations in the first half of the year.

SUVs were the most popular, with segment growth of 24%. This was largely due to the increase in smaller SUVs, according to JATO.

Diesel sales continued to fall. The UK recorded the biggest shift away from the fuel with a 30% decline. The European average was 17%.

Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV was the most popular plug-in hybrid model in Europe in the first half of 2018. The Nissan Leaf continues to be the best-selling electric car.

The Volkswagen Group sold the most cars in Europe overall and also became the SUV segment leader following the introduction of the T-Roc.