PAUK new car sales hit an all-time record last year, figures released later are expected to show.
Some 2.63 million vehicles were registered in 2015, up about 6% on 2014 and the fourth consecutive year of growth, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders will say.
Stronger consumer confidence, special deals, and cheap finance, have pushed up the figures.
Registrations in December are thought to have been the best on record.
It is thought that some 180,000 new cars were registered last month,
The previous record for sales in Britain was set in 2003 when 2.58 million new cars were sold.
Car registrations in the UK, Europe's second-biggest auto market after Germany, fell sharply after the 2007-8 financial crisis but have gradually recovered, returning in 2014 to pre-crisis levels at 2.48 million.
Consumers have benefited from low interest rates and the strengthening of sterling against the euro which has made it cheaper to import cars from countries such as Germany and France.
The expected new record high for registrations comes despite declines in sales for Volkswagen, which accounts for around 20% of British car sales. Sales of some of its brands fell sharply in October and November following the diesel emissions scandal.
The best selling car, for the seventh year running, was the Ford Fiesta, the figures are likely to reveal.
More than 85% of Ford's showroom sales are on finance plans known as PCPs - where customers in effect lease a car - and which are widely credited with having boosted vehicle sales across the industry in recent years.
The BBC's industry correspondent, John Moylan, said: "Even scandal-hit Volkswagen is thought to have seen its UK car sales rise compared with the previous year. It has admitted cheating emissions tests in the US and could face fines worth billions of pounds.
"And while an interest rate rise in the coming months could make some car buyers think twice - the industry expects overall car sales to be broadly stable in the year ahead."
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