A Guiseley-based car dealership is predicting it will start the New Year where it left off in 2001 - by hitting record sales.

Benfield Ford recorded 'best-ever' results for sales of new and used cars last year, enjoying an industry wide boom which saw 2.45m cars sold.

The company, which has five Yorkshire showrooms, sold over 300 new vehicles and another 22 Motability cars, specially adapted for people with disabilities, from Guiseley alone.

Its Yorkshire wide performance was equally impressive, notching up 2,062 sales from January to December, 2001, compared to 1,719 in 2000.

Chief executive Mark Squires said he was confident those achievements could be matched over the next 12 months.

He said: "Last year there was a high degree of pent-up demand within our industry as both customers and retailers awaited the findings of the Competition Commission and the effects these would have on car prices.

"As these have become apparent, the demand has been released into the market and its effects have been magnified by both the launch of the new-style registration plates in September, and by the seven interest cuts from the Bank of England.

"Those cuts made motoring finance packages increasingly attractive and buyers have been swift to take advantage of them."

Looking ahead to the coming year, he added: "There is always an ongoing need for motorists to replace their cars, and we feel this fact will continue to combine with the prevailing market conditions to keep sales strong in 2002."

Benfield's success follows that of Bradford-based Sunwin Motor Group, which achieved record first half profits of more than £61m between February and August 2001.