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Two of the region's automotive manufacturers enjoyed a bumper April as they posted rises in new car registrations

Jaguar Land Rover and MG recorded year-on-year increases but Aston Martin posted a fall, according to the latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The West Midlands reflected a national trend as the SMMT said new car sales could be back to pre-recession levels by the end of 2014.

A total of 1,209 new Jaguars were registered in April 2014, up year-on-year from 1,080, while 4,381 Land Rovers were registered, up from 3,483.

MG enjoyed a hike of 1,600 per cent, rising from 13 in 2013 to 221, aided by the launch with further bright prospects on the horizon following the company's recent .

Aston Martin, which announced last week sales , endured a fall of 40 per cent, down from 98 to 58 new cars registered.

Nationally, the SMMT said there were 176,820 new vehicles registered in April - an 8.2 per cent rise on April 2013 - and the figures for the year to date climbed by 12.5 per cent to 864,942.

The April figures followed a 17.7 per cent rise in March when the new 14-plate cars went on sale.

The SMMT said it expected registrations would reach more than 2.4 million by the end of 2014, a rise of six per cent on the total for last year and on a par with the year-end figures achieved before 2008 when a sales slump set in.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "After the bumper plate-change month of March, the º£½ÇÊÓƵ car market returned to more modest but still positive growth in April.

"This marks 26 consecutive months of growth as GDP continues to pick up, inflation falls and wage levels improve.

"As º£½ÇÊÓƵ economic confidence improves still further and the market continues its upward trend, we have revised our 2014 forecast up from 2.3 million to over 2.4 million registrations."