More motorists in the UK are turning to car clubs due to the spiralling costs of car ownership.
In the past 12 months, membership of car clubs has nearly doubled from 64,679 members to 112,928, according to new Department for Transport statistics.
The main reason for the switch is the ever-increasing cost of fuel; the average tank of fuel now costs £10 more than this time last year.
The rising cost of fuel has also led to more people buying hybrid or electric cars (48,000 units sold in 2008, 62,000 in 2009) and the average engine size sold in the UK in 2009 was down 3.6 per cent on 2008 to 1692cc.
“It is the impact of pump prices," an AA spokesman told the Daily Telegraph. "When we ask motorists what factors have influenced their choice of car, fuel economy comes second after reliability. Environmental concerns come some way down.”
The statistics also showed that more motorists were hanging onto their cars for longer. Motorists held onto their cars for an average of 6.6 years in 2003, compared with 7.1 years in 2009.
