LONDON (AP) -- New car registrations in the United Kingdom rose 6 percent in August from July, with one in four sales linked to the government's "cash for bangers" incentives, an industry group said Friday.
The gain in August, normally a quiet month in the auto trade, followed a 2.4 percent increase in July, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
The government and auto manufacturers are sharing the cost of a 2,000-pound ($3,270) discount on a new car for buyers who trade in a car more than 10 years old. "Banger" is British slang for an old car or van.
Through August, more than 102,000 cars had been sold under the program, the Society said.
The government has pledged 300 million pounds for the program, and had spent a third of that amount through August.
Similar programs offering cash incentives to buyers of new cars who scrap their old model have proved very popular elsewhere in Europe and in the United States as a way to help the struggling auto sector and reduce gas consumption.