(Adds detail on British auto industry)
LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - New car registrations in Britain fell 36.8 percent on the year to November, the steepest decline in nearly three decades, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said on Thursday.
The SMMT said it expected just over 2.1 million vehicles to be sold this year, compared with 2.4 million last year, and renewed calls for urgent action to support the industry's financing needs.
The Bank of England is expected to cut rates to 2 percent from 3 percent later on Thursday in a bid to stave off the worst of a looming recession, in which the auto industry is suffering heavily as companies and consumers rein back spending.
November's decline was sharpest in the market for private cars, with registrations down 45.1 percent in November. Total new car registrations for the month came in at 100,333 units.
The annual decline in registrations was the biggest since June 1980, except for falls in 1999 due to a move to a twice-yearly change in licence plates, which disrupted the heavily seasonal patterns of UK car buying.
The fall in private registrations may have been partly driven by a government announcement late in November that the value-added tax rate would be reduced by 2.5 percentage points from Dec. 1, cutting 250 pounds ($367) off the average price of a new car for buyers who waited, the SMMT said.
"November's slowdown was steeper than expected and suggests a market of just over 2.1 million units is likely this year," the trade body added.
Ford made November's two best-selling models, the compact Fiesta and mid-sized Focus, with 6,154 and 4,893 units sold respectively. In third place, General Motors' compact Vauxhall Corsa sold 4,442 units.
Diesel cars, which are often cheaper to run over long distances, gained ground, reaching a record 47 percent market share in November.
Luxury car maker Aston Martin said on Monday it would cut 600 jobs in Britain, and bigger manufacturers such as Nissan have also announced stoppages or shorter working hours in their UK plants.
"Urgent action is now required to ease access to credit and finance, both to support consumers and meet the cash-flow needs of the industry," said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.
In November the car industry asked for access to some of the 50 billion pounds in government funds being made available to banks to help their own and consumer financing needs. (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter and Andrew Macdonald)