New car registrations in the UK have increased 12.7% to 162,228 units in July 2013 and are expected to reach 2.216 million units this year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Registrations of alternatively-fuelled vehicles increased 17% to 2,432 units in July 2013 and plug-in car registrations grew 70.7% over the first seven months of 2013, to 1,885 units.

SMMT said in 2013 registrations have already crossed 80% of 2012 full year volumes and are 11 times higher than 2010.

The association notes that over 10,000 plug-in vehicle charging points have been installed across the UK, with about half match-funded by government's Plugged-In Places initiative.

SMMT interim chief executive Mike Baunton said strong business and consumer confidence in July saw the new car market continue to rise, posting double-digit growth in the month.

"Now we have evidence of consistent growth, we have raised our forecast for 2013 new car registrations to 2.216 million units, an increase of over 8% on last year," Baunton said.

"Recently, we've seen a range of economic indicators point to improving conditions and our raised sales forecast emphasises how positively we view the rest of 2013."