The fleet industry saw a 4.8% rise in new car registrations in September in a market which was up 5.6% overall to 425,861 units, the biggest performance for the month in a decade.
The fleet market saw 178,771 registrations in September, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufactuerrs and Traders. September marks the 31st consecutive month of growth in the new car market.
The retail market led growth in September, up 5.9% to 221,146 new cars registered.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, put the growth down to intensifying consumer confidence in the UK economy, with buyers attracted by a wide range of fuel-efficient cars.
However, Hawes now does expect demand to start levelling off.
While the SMMT has been consistently revising its expectations on how large the new car market will be in the UK this year, with the current estimate at 2.45 million, most manufacturers BusinessCar spoke to at the Paris motor show expect the market to go slightly further beyond that level, with most quoting a market of 2.47 million units.
Yes again, the Ford Fiesta took the top position for the highest level of registrations both for September at 23,266 units and year-to-date at 106,930 units.
The September market was dominated by superminis and family hatchbacks, with saloons and premium brands noticeably absent from the top 10 most registered cars in the plate-change month.
| Best sellers | September | Year-to-date | |||||
| 1 | Ford Fiesta | 23,266 | 1 | Ford Fiesta | 106,930 | ||
| 2 | Ford Focus | 13,508 | 2 | Ford Focus | 67,015 | ||
| 3 | Volkswagen Golf | 13,011 | 3 | Vauxhall Corsa | 62,693 | ||
| 4 | Vauxhall Corsa | 12,506 | 4 | Volkswagen Golf | 58,664 | ||
| 5 | Volkswagen Polo | 10,312 | 5 | Vauxhall Astra | 47,482 | ||
| 6 | Fiat 500 | 9,122 | 6 | Nissan Qashqai | 38,920 | ||
| 7 | Vauxhall Astra | 8,861 | 7 | Volkswagen Polo | 36,772 | ||
| 8 | Audi A3 | 7,317 | 8 | Audi A3 | 35,596 | ||
| 9 | Peugeot 208 | 6,968 | 9 | Fiat 500 | 35,032 | ||
| 10 | Nissan Qashqai | 6,847 | 10 | BMW 3 Series | 29,655 | ||
Average new car registered in September achieves 59mpg (combined cycle), and CO2 emissions of 122.3 g/km.
The plate-change month typically account for a third of the entire year’s registrations, with March taking a slightly higher share than September.
The average pre-recession registration volume for September and March combined (2004-2008) was 852,000, which reduced to 729,000 during the recession (2009-2013).
