By BLOOMBERG

MUNICH • The approach of Brexit and concerns over the future of diesel vehicles pushed demand for cars in the UK to a six-year low last month.

Sales dropped 3.4% year-on-year to 458,054 passenger vehicles as consumers stayed away from showrooms during what’s usually a strong month for new purchases because of a number plate changeover, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said.

“March is a key barometer for the new-car market, so this fall is of clear concern,” the association’s CEO Mike Hawes said yesterday in a statement.

“We urgently need an end to the political and economic uncertainty by removing permanently the threat of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit.”

The UK government’s ongoing battle to find a way out of the impasse over Brexit is hurting consumer demand in a number of corners of Britain’s economy. EasyJet plc warned this week that it was expecting a weaker summer travel season, while shares of cruise and tour provider Saga plc fell 38% yesterday. It partly blamed a drop in travel bookings.

As well as Europe’s second-biggest car market, the UK is also the continent’s fourth-biggest vehicle manufacturer with companies like BMW AG, Jaguar Land Rover and Toyota Motor Corp and their suppliers reliant on cross-border supply chains and tariff-free access.

“I stopped trying to calculate the potential Brexit fallout,” Wolf-Henning Scheider, CEO of German carparts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG, said yesterday. “What’s clear is that a disorderly Brexit would cause significant financial damage.” — Bloomberg