New car sales predictions surpassed

New car sales predictions surpassed

During the important plate change month of September, expectations of sales of the new 62 plates were smashed, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Registration of new cars was at 359,612, which is a growth of 8.2% from last year. This is around 26,000 more vehicles than expected by the SMMT. Typically a busy month for car sales, September was the second best month for the car industry after March, when 372,835 vehicles rolled off the forecourts. The new car market has continued to grow this year, with a 7.5% growth in the third quarter alone.

This year on the whole, new car registrations is up by 4.3% over the same period of 2011, with a total of 1,620,609 new cars being registered. Predictions from the SMMT say that 1.97 million cars will be registered in 2012.

SMMT Chief Executive Paul Everitt commented: "The important September plate change market outperformed expectations with new car registrations increasing more than 8% on last year to 359,612 units... Although the economic outlook remains challenging, we are starting to see a tentative return of consumer confidence as motorists explore new products and the latest fuel-efficient technologies."

The most popular vehicle as expected was the Ford Fiesta, with 88,747 registered this year so far, with 18,651 of these registered in September.

SMMT's full announcement can be read here: http://www.smmt.co.uk/2012/10/new-car-registrations-better-than-expected-in-robust-september-market/

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