NEW car sales in Scotland saw a surprising jump last month, despite fears over the banking credit crunch and soaring petrol and diesel bills.

Motor dealers, expecting a huge drop in demand, slashed prices.

However, they say the 3.2% rise in April is a major boost for the trade.

A total of 14,008 new cars were driven off garage forecourts during the month - up from 13,575 a year ago - according to figures published today by the Scottish Motor Trade association.

Douglas Robertson, chief executive of the trade association, said: "An increase for the second consecutive month is most welcome, especially in these times of a credit squeeze.

"Despite rocketing fuel prices and the recent fuel crisis in Scotland, consumers have shown that they still have the confidence to invest in the new car market.

"Diesel car registrations have now reached 45% of the market, their highest month on record and we believe this confirms consumer confidence in the market remains, despite the credit squeeze.

"There have been clear signs consumers are aware of the value-for-money deals available in car showrooms."

The geographical breakdown of the figures shows wide variations, with motor dealers in the Borders performing best with a dramatic 36.7% sales surge during April.

Sales in Strathclyde - by far the biggest area - rose by 6.8 % to 6954 vehicles, worth £70million.

Car dealers in Central Scotland suffered most, with sales in the region falling by 7.9%.

The sales chart for April shows that the Vauxhall Astra outsold its rivals to jump into pole position as the best-selling car in Scotland with 853 sales.

Its stablemate the Vauxhall Corsa was in second with 584 sales, with the Ford Focus third with sales of 555.

The association's figures show that Vauxhall has managed to stay ahead of Ford in the race for the best-selling car make in Scotland - accounting for 14.9% of the market or around one in six of all new cars sold.

Ford remains in second position on 13.0% of sales, with Volkswagen jumping up into third place on 7%.