- 18 months of consecutive rises realised as new car market grows 10.9% in August to 65,937 units.
- Only about 3% of annual registrations occur in August ahead of September’s plate change, which typically accounts for around 17% of full-year registrations.
- Fifth successive month of double-digit growth pushes year-to-date market up 10.4% to 1,391,788 units.
- Private registrations see biggest gain but fleet and business buyers also continue positive performance.
- Registrations of all fuel types continue growth, with alternatively-fuelled vehicles up 41.4% in August.
“UK new car registrations have now risen consecutively for a year and a half. Private and fleet buyers are clearly capitalising on attractive deals and new technologies against a backdrop of increasing economic confidence,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive. “Ahead of the September plate-change, August always has far fewer registrations, but the 10.9% rise this month bodes well for the new 63-plate.”
| August | Total | Diesel | Petrol | AFV | Private | Fleet | Business | ||||||||||||
| 2013 | 65,937 | 32,903 | 32,108 | 926 | 31,608 | 32,386 | 1,943 | ||||||||||||
| 2012 | 59,433 | 29,391 | 29,387 | 655 | 27,567 | 30,153 | 1,713 | ||||||||||||
| % change | 10.9% | 11.9% | 9.3% | 41.4% | 14.7% | 7.4% | 13.4% | ||||||||||||
| Mkt share ’13 | 49.9% | 48.7% | 1.4% | 47.9% | 49.1% | 2.9% | |||||||||||||
| Mkt share ’12 | 49.5% | 49.4% | 1.1% | 46.4% | 50.7% | 2.9% | |||||||||||||
| Year-to-date | Total | Diesel | Petrol | AFV | Private | Fleet | Business | ||||||||||||
| 2013 | 1,391,788 | 685,936 | 687,067 | 18,785 | 660,579 | 671,708 | 59,501 | ||||||||||||
| 2012 | 1,260,997 | 643,133 | 600,504 | 17,360 | 567,777 | 641,601 | 51,619 | ||||||||||||
| % change | 10.4% | 6.7% | 14.4% | 8.2% | 16.3% | 4.7% | 15.3% | ||||||||||||
| Mkt share ’13 | 49.3% | 49.4% | 1.3% | 47.5% | 48.3% | 4.3% | |||||||||||||
| Mkt share ’12 | 51.0% | 47.6% | 1.4% | 45.0% | 50.9% | 4.1% | |||||||||||||
| Best sellers | August | Year-to-date | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Fiesta | 3,289 | 1 | Fiesta | 75,418 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | Astra | 2,428 | 2 | Focus | 57,129 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Golf | 2,233 | 3 | Corsa | 53,284 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Focus | 2,225 | 4 | Astra | 42,324 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Corsa | 2,151 | 5 | Golf | 39,530 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | 1 Series | 1,927 | 6 | Qashqai | 33,299 | ||||||||||||||
| 7 | Qashqai | 1,875 | 7 | Polo | 27,730 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | 3 Series | 1,517 | 8 | 3 Series | 26,175 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Polo | 1,442 | 9 | 1 Series | 24,364 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | Insignia | 1,147 | 10 | 208 | 24,269 | ||||||||||||||
Registrations have grown in every month in 2013 by an average of 10%.- The 13-plate, covering March-August registrations, was the best in volume terms since the recession and the 08-plate and was up 10.4% on a year ago at 1.18 million units.
- August only accounted for 2.9% of the 2012 full year market and is the second smallest market of the year, after February. Both months are ahead of the change in number plate.
- September is typically the second largest month of the year, after March, and in 2012 accounted for 17.6% of the annual market.
- Registrations of the new 63-plate in September are expected to exceed 2012’s 359,612 total by more than 7%.
Click through to download the full August 2013 new car registrations news release and data table.
