New car sales have raced ahead again, according to official figures.

More than 162,000 new cars were registered in July 2013 – a 12.7% rise on the July 2012 figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said yesterday.

It was the 17th-successive monthly increase and took the total for the year so far to more than 1.3m – up more than 10% on the first seven months of last year.

It came as the country's biggest car dealer reported profits up by nearly a quarter in the first six months of the year to £23.6m. Pendragon reported retail sales rose 20% in the first six months of the year.

The dealer, which operates more than 250 outlets expects revenue growth of 5% this year to £2bn.

Strong car sales in recent months have prompted the SMMT to raise its figure for the full 2013 year. The society now expects annual sales to reach just under 2.22m. This would be 8% up on 2012 and the best annual figure since 2007.

The strong market is in contrast to Germany and France, where sales in July rose by just 2% and 1% respectively.

SMMT interim chief executive Mike Baunton said: "Strong business and consumer confidence in July saw the new car market continue to rise.

"Now we have evidence of consistent growth, we have raised our forecast for 2013 new car registrations. 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."

The Ford Fiesta and Focus were the two most popular models in July, selling 9,000, and 7,200 respectively, followed by General Motors' Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen's Golf.

Derek McAllan, UK head of automotive retail at KPMG, said that the UK new car market continued to significantly outperform the rest of the UK retail sector.

"The continued availability of cheap and subsidised finance, a recovering economy and a sustained house price recovery should ensure that the motor retail market remains strong for the remainder of the year and into 2014," he said.