By Sabela Ojea

Car manufacturing in the U.K. fell 2.9% in February, declining for the sixth consecutive month as demand from private buyers waned, according to the latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders released Thursday.

Registrations by private buyers decreased 7.4%, with 79,594 models registered in the period. The SMMT blamed weak consumer confidence and uncertainty over what fuel technology to buy.

Demand for both diesel and petrol vehicles fell during the month, with registrations down 27.1% and 7.3%, respectively. Battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars, on the other hand, saw a rise in sales, but their market share remains low at 5.8%, the SMMT added.

The SMMT said it is calling for the removal of the Value-Add Tax from all new battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric cars, "a move which would cut the purchase price of an average family battery electric run-around by some GBP5,600," it says.

"SMMT calculations show that the removal of VAT could increase sales of battery electric cars alone to just under one million between now and 2024, resulting in an additional CO2 saving of 1.2 million tons over this period," it added.

Write to Sabela Ojea at sabela.ojea@wsj.com; @sabelaojeaguix

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 05, 2020 05:58 ET (10:58 GMT)