INSOLVENCIES among UK car dealers have doubled this year, according to a report.

The report, from consultants and accountants Ernst & Young, said franchised dealership insolvencies to the end of August, totalled 24, compared with only 12 in the January- August 2008 period.

It said: “Plummeting car sales, heavy discounting of new vehicles and lower levels of servicing work have combined to have a catastrophic effect on the automotive retail market. The most promising indicator of a recovery in new car registrations was likely to be a return to gross domestic product growth.”