Britons registered 23 pct fewer new cars in Oct.

LONDON - Britons registered 23 percent fewer new cars this October than they did in the same month last year as the economic downturn discouraged people from buying new cars, Britain's car manufacturing society said Thursday.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers found that Britons registered just 128,352 new cars in October, down from 166,797 in October of 2007. The number of new registrations is roughly equivalent to the number of new car sales.

The society said it hadn't seen such a steep decline in registrations since the early 1990s recession.

To help economic growth the Bank of England Wednesday cut its key interest rate by a massive one and a half percentage points to 3.0 percent. Although markets were ready for a big cut, the move was bolder than most analysts expected.

The car industry has been hit hard by Britain's economic downturn because people largely view the purchase of new cars as a luxury they can do without when times are tough.

Several car factories — including two that produce the iconic British Mini — have announced that they will be reducing production to combat declining demand.

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