The UK’s growing car market has impressed again with growth of 17.7% in March. The growth figure was surprisingly strong in the month, traditionally one of the year’s largest in Britain due to a registration plate change.
Once again, private retail sales were the market driver as overall car sales grew by 17.7% year-on-year to 464,824 units. That took quarterly new car registrations to 688,122 units, 13.7% ahead of the same period last year.
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March was also the biggest-ever month in the UK for alternatively-fuelled vehicles as volumes reached 8,713 units, growth of 63.8% on 2013.
Toyota noted that strong sales of its Yaris hybrid helped to take the Yaris into the Top Ten models list . Toyota sold 7,438 Yaris in March (15.6% ahead of last year), with one in four specified with a hybrid powertrain (and hybrid Yaris sales up 124.2% on last March).
This sales result represents growth of 15.6 per cent on the numbers achieved in March 2013. Yaris Hybrid sales grew by an astonishing 124.2 per cent in the same period, helping Toyota to a total March sales figure of 20,681.
“New car registrations surged 17.7% in March to 464,824 units, a surprisingly strong level of growth and a reflection of intensifying consumer confidence and the availability of great new products,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive. “Given the past six years of subdued economic performance across the UK, there is still a substantial margin of pent-up demand that is contributing to a strong new and used car market.
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By GlobalData“There has never been a better time to buy a new car thanks to attractive finance deals and advanced technologies that often make new cars cheaper to run. We expect the market to continue to perform positively for the rest of the year, albeit at a more modest rate.”
The SMMT also said that the March new car market was just 2,130 units short of the record 2004 total. The twice-yearly plate change (March saw the introduction of the ’14’ plate) means March and September alone typically account for over a third of the annual UK car market.
Phil Harrold, automotive partner, PwC, said that future growth may be more modest, especially if interest rates rise. “The threat of rising interest rates may act as a brake on demand in the future; hence my belief is that demand will return to more stable growth rates.”
| March | |||
| Best | sellers | ||
| 1 | Ford | Fiesta | 25,753 |
| 2 | Ford | Focus | 16,860 |
| 3 | Vauxhall | Corsa | 16,231 |
| 4 | VW | Golf | 13,142 |
| 5 | Vauxhall | Astra | 11,359 |
| 6 | Nissan | Qashqai | 8,858 |
| 7 | VW | Polo | 8,306 |
| 8 | Fiat | 500 | 8,136 |
| 9 | BMW | 3 Series | 7,782 |
| 10 | Toyota | Yaris | 7,438 |
| Year-to-date | |||
| 1 | Ford | Fiesta | 39,240 |
| 2 | Ford | Focus | 24,759 |
| 3 | Vauxhall | Corsa | 23,839 |
| 4 | VW | Golf | 19,160 |
| 5 | Vauxhall | Astra | 17,465 |
| 6 | VW | Polo | 13,631 |
| 7 | Nissan | Qashqai | 12,937 |
| 8 | Fiat | 500 | 11,685 |
| 9 | Audi | A3 | 11,583 |
| 10 | BMW | 3 Series | 11,027 |
Data source: SMMT
