The fleet new car market showed a glimmer of optimism last month, recording the best year-on-year result so far in 2009.

The fleet market was 13.6% down on September 2008, compared with 25.1% down for the year to date and 21.6% down in August, prompting hopes of a recovery. But the downside for fleet was the diminished share of the market, as the scrappage scheme combined with the new ’59’ registration plate to see retail sales account for 62.8% of new car registrations. By comparison, the figure was 52.1% for September 2008’s change to the ’58’ plate.

Ford continued its good form of 2009, showing sales up 13.3% thanks mainly to the popularity of the new Fiesta compared with the predecessor that was being run-out this time last year. Vauxhall was down 12.0%, ahead of the market in second place, with all of the top seven manufacturers performing above the market average, while Toyota, Nissan and Mercedes struggled, 34.8, 28.1 and 36.1% down year-on-year respectively. Honda and Renault, just outside the top ten, were down 22.9% and 40.1% respectively.

Top 10 fleet manufacturers – September 2009
Manufacturer Sept 09 Sept 08 % change
1 Ford 26,024 22,969 13.3
2 Vauxhall 20,210 22,973 -12.0
3 VW 13,438 14,729 -8.8
4 BMW 9047 8749 3.4
5 Audi 8793 8837 -0.5
6 Peugeot 7162 8481 -15.6
7 Citroen 5928 5335 11.1
8 Toyota 5412 8306 -34.8
9 Nissan 5289 7357 -28.1
10 Mercedes 5041 7884 -36.1

Top 10 fleet models – September 2009
Model Sept 09 Sept 08 % change
1 Ford Focus 9566 7673 24.7
2 Ford Fiesta 7784 3996 94.8
3 Vauxhall Astra 7741 7631 1.4
4 Vauxhall Corsa 6699 5936 12.9
5 VW Golf 5815 6331 -8.2
6 Ford Mondeo 4507 5300 -15.0
7 BMW 3-series 3088 2278 35.4
8 Peugeot 207 2963 3357 -11.7
9 Peugeot 308 2921 2762 5.8
10 Vauxhall Insignia 2902 14 n/a

FOLLOW BUSINESSCAR ON TWITTER