New car registrations rose by 3.3% in the fleet market for 2007.

1,194,811 cars were registered in the last 12 months, with Ford emerging as the most popular manufacturer. Its Focus remains the most popular choice for the industry, accounting for 79,408 of 205,860 units sold, just shading Vauxhall’s Astra by a tiny 38 units.

Despite the victory, the Focus’s figures are down by 5.9% on last year, while the Astra was up 8.6% on 2006.

Elsewhere in the manufacturer top ten, Audi was the biggest winner, overtaking both BMW and Toyota with a rise in sales of 28%. This took Audi to a 4.8% share of the market.

Volkswagen’s Golf was the big success story of the model registration list. It jumped from seventh to fourth, leapfrogging the Ford Mondeo, and Vauxhall’s Corsa and Zafira.

Top ten fleet manufacturers of 2007
  Manufacturer 2006 2007 % change
1. Ford 206,979 205,860 -0.5
2. Vauxhall 194,626 205,479 5.6
3. VW 108,439 114,854 5.9
4. Peugeot 75,290 73,552 -2.3
5. Renault 73,674 66,692 -9.5
6. Audi 45,076 57,706 28.0
7. BMW 56,442 54,159 -4.0
8. Toyota 50,077 50,347 0.5
9. Citroen 35,952 40,572 12.9
10. Honda 29,607 37,407 26.3
Top ten fleet models of 2007
  Model 2006 2007 % change
1. Ford Focus 84,387 79,408 -5.9
2. Vauxhall Astra 73,064 79,370 8.6
3. Ford Fiesta 44,000 43,656 -0.8
4. VW Golf 36,117 41,518 15.0
5. Ford Mondeo 41,188 39,082 -5.1
6. Vauxhall Corsa 36,490 39,071 7.1
7. Vauxhall Zafira 36,984 37,493 1.4
8. Vauxhall Vectra 33,092 37,020 11.9
9. VW Passat 29,007 29,574 2.0
10. Peugeot 207 12,810 26,497 106.8