By Ian Walker

LONDON--U.K. new car registrations rose 12% in February, the 36th consecutive month of growth and taking the run to the longest on record, an industry body reported Thursday.

In February, typically the slowest month for new cars ahead of the plate change in March, 76,958 new cars were registered, compared with 68,736 in the same period a year earlier, taking the number of cars sold so far this year to 241,814, an 8.3% rise on the same period a year earlier. The growth was driven by fleet demand, which grew nearly 20% to 44,719 cars, the U.K. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said.

"The U.K. car market's sustained expansion is the longest ever seen, beating the previous record of 26 months set in the late 1980s... as the U.K. continues to bounce back from the recession and consumer demand has been driven by exciting new products and attractive finance deals," the SMMT added.

"With most fleet car buyers on a three-year replacement cycle, many of those cars purchased at the beginning of the current growth period are now due for replacement. Over the course of 2015, however, we are expecting a more stable market to emerge given there has already been an extended period of consistent growth," SMMT Chief Executive Officer Mike Hawes said.

New car registrations closely mirror sales.

The SMMT said the U.K.'s top two best-selling cars in February were the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Golf.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com