New car sales still rising in the UK

New car sales still rising in the UK

In their recent release of monthly automotive statistics, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) say that new car registrations were up by 3% in February 2014.

New car sales in the UK have continued to rise over many months, and the SMMT stats show that February was the 24th month in-a-row to see such an increase. That equates to two whole years of solid improvement in the new car marketplace. And with the new plate change at the start of this month, we can only postulate that March will see a larger increase still.

The Chief Executive of the SMMT, Mike Hawes, commented that the month of February is historically a quiet month when it comes to car sales, as many new car buyers are waiting until the registration plate changes in March to buy a new vehicle, but the current economic climate is persuading consumers to buy when they want. He also said that the SMMT have great confidence in maintaining this growth throughout the year, with the new plates bolstering this significantly.

As part of it's released figures, the SMMT data also includes statistics on what cars have proved popular with consumers over the month. In the last two years, the popularity of small hatchbacks has shot up, with models such as the Volkswagen Up seeing their sales figures since February 2012 shooting up by 97.2%. Whereas the SUV has been popular in recent years, the crossover part of the market has also seen much movement in the last 24 months, with a 49.2% growth in it's segment. However, the statistics show that the large family car is dying a slow death, with vehicles such as the Volkswagen Passat seeing their sales figures drop by a fifth (20%) since February 2012.

Ford and Vauxhall continue to dominate the new car markets in the UK. The most popular model of car sold in February 2014 was the Ford Fiesta, which has reigned supreme for many a month. It is also the most popular new car sold all year so far, with it's sales figures almost double of it's nearest rival, it's bigger brother the Ford Focus. Following on from the Fiesta were the Vauxhall Corsa and the Vauxhall Astra, which have also remained popular for many months.

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