Cars Registrations SMMT News

Emissions achieve all-time low despite subdued March market

06 April 2011 #Cars #Registrations #SMMT News
  • 366,101 new 11-plate cars were registered in March, a decline of 7.9% on 2010.
  • March bettered expectations, up 5.9% on 2010 with scrappage volumes excluded.
  • Registrations in quarter one fell 8.7% to 558,336 units. The 2011 market is forecast to drop 5.0% to 1.93 million.
  • Q1 records lowest ever average new car CO2 emissions, down 3.4% to 140.3g/km.
  • Fleet and business volumes grew in both March and Q1 demonstrating underlying business confidence that should stabilise the market through 2011.

“The UK saw 366,101 new cars registered in March, demonstrating sustained demand in what is traditionally the biggest month of the year,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. “Despite a dip versus 2010, the market remains on course to meet SMMT’s forecast for the year with motorists buying increasingly fuel-efficient and low emitting vehicles across every segment.”

March  Total Diesel Petrol AFV Private Fleet Business
               
2011 366,101 174,165 186,610 5,326 176,425 166,356 23,320
2010 397,383 161,899 231,912 3,572 212,440 164,245 20,698
% change -7.9% 7.6% -19.5% 49.1% -17.0% 1.3% 12.7%
Mkt share ’11   47.6% 51.0% 1.5% 48.2% 45.4% 6.4%
Mkt share ’10   40.7% 58.4% 0.9% 53.5% 41.3% 5.2%
               
Year-to-date Total Diesel Petrol AFV Private Fleet Business
               
2011 558,336 270,999 279,575 7,762 250,584 275,369 32,383
2010 611,548 251,136 354,316 6,096 308,353 272,511 30,684
% change -8.7% 7.9% -21.1% 27.3% -18.7% 1.0% 5.5%
Mkt share ’11   48.5% 50.1% 1.4% 44.9% 49.3% 5.8%
Mkt share ’10   41.1% 57.9% 1.0% 50.4% 44.6% 5.0%
               
Best sellers March       Year-to-date
               
  1 Fiesta 19,676   1 Fiesta 27,924
  2 Focus 14,370   2 Focus 24,435
  3 Corsa 13,556   3 Corsa 20,536
  4 Astra 10,704   4 Astra 17,250
  5 Golf 10,282   5 Golf 17,101
  6 Insignia 7,826   6 Polo 12,214
  7 Polo 7,634   7 Insignia 11,904
  8 207 7,189   8 207 10,335
  9 MINI 7,040   9 3 Series 10,141
  10 3 Series 6,103   10 Qashqai 9,253
                                     

 March ahead of forecast and 2009 levels, but down on 2010 market

  • New car registrations declined in each of the past nine months. Demand for the new ’11’ plate was just ahead of SMMT’s forecast by 1.4%. Volumes in March were down 7.9% on last year. However, with the 13.0% of 2010 scrappage related volumes removed, the market was up 5.9%.
  • Registrations in quarter one were down 53,212 units or 8.7%, but at 558,336 units, were over 11,000 units ahead of expectations. The market is expected to decline further in Q2, before stabilising and recovering in the second half of the year to show a net decline of 5.0% to 1.93 million units. SMMT will review its forecasts this month.
  • While comparisons with 2009 and 2010 are distorted by the scrappage scheme, volumes remain well below pre-recession levels. Between 2004 and 2008, March averaged almost 450,000 units and the annual outturn was above 2.4 million units. 
  • Fleet and business registrations have shown modest growth in the first quarter of the year whilst private demand has weakened post scrappage scheme. The decline in private demand was in line with industry expectations.
  • Average new car CO2 emissions fell to 140.3g/km in Q1, a 3.4% reduction on a year ago. 
  • Diesel car volumes rose by 7.9% in Q1, as their market share rose from 41.1% to 48.5%. Alternatively fuelled cars achieved a record 1.4% share of the total market in the quarter, after volumes rose by 27.3%
  • The Ford Fiesta was the best selling model in the month and Q1. Supermini volumes fell during March, although their market share edged up to 38.4%. Lower medium cars saw a sharp drop in demand, likely linked to changeover to new models, whilst demand for luxury saloon, MPVs and executive cars rebounded.

Follow this link to download the full March registrations news release and data tables.

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