UK car sales reach six-year high

Ford

New car sales have reached their highest level since 2007, says the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Figures for 2013 show an increase in registrations of 10.8% compared with the previous year, to 2,264,737 - most of which was driven by growth in the private car market.

Ford dominated the best-seller list, with the Fiesta and Focus winning 200,000 sales between them

The UK market’s performance easily outstripped that of the European Union as a whole, with an increase of 9.9% for the 11 months to November compared with a drop of 2.7% for the EU region.

Our buying habits have changed significantly since 2007, too, with city cars and superminis like the Volkswagen Up and Vauxhall Corsa – the biggest-selling group – taking an even greater slice of the pie in 2013, with cars in the upper medium segment like the Ford Mondeo suffering the biggest fall.

Hybrid and electric-only car sales were up by 20.5% in 2013, but their sales still only reached 32,715 – less than 1.5% of the total figure, despite a significant increase in the number of such cars available on the market.

Ford dominated the best-seller list, with the Fiesta and Focus winning 200,000 sales between them. Vauxhall’s Corsa and Astra take the next two spots, with the Volkswagen Golf rounding out the top five. The Nissan Qashqai, which was only launched in 2007, was the UK’s sixth most popular choice with over 50,000 cars sold, marking the rise of ‘crossover’ vehicles.
 

Lotus

Despite low volumes, it’s a surprise to see Lotus top the chart of fastest-growing manufacturers – the Malaysian-owned, Norfolk-based sports car maker sold 256 cars in 2013, which is an increase of 86.9%. The company has ditched its grand multi-model plan of 2010 and refocused on improving its existing Elise, Exige and Evora models.

Of the higher-volume brands, Skoda (23.3%), Fiat (20.6%), Mercedes-Benz (19.2%) and Audi (14.9%) reported the best growth.

Losers included Chevrolet – destined to leave the Western European market in 2016 – whose sales dropped by 13.4%, Nissan’s luxury Infiniti brand (down 27.2%) and Alfa Romeo (down by 21.6% to 5,687 cars), but the Italian manufacturer has just started a new-model drive with the 4C coupe.

Here's the full list of 2013 new car sales results by manufacturer:

REGISTRATIONS OF NEW CARS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM - BY MARQUE

YEAR-TO-DATE

% Change

MARQUE

2013

% Market share

2012

% Market share

Dacia

17,146

0.76

0

0.00

0.00

Mia

5

0.00

0

0.00

0.00

Lotus

256

0.01

137

0.01

86.86

Mitsubishi

9,044

0.40

6,549

0.32

38.10

Suzuki

33,088

1.46

24,893

1.22

32.92

Skoda

66,081

2.92

53,602

2.62

23.28

Fiat

60,198

2.66

49,907

2.44

20.62

Mazda

31,228

1.38

26,183

1.28

19.27

Mercedes-Benz

109,456

4.83

91,855

4.49

19.16

SEAT

45,312

2.00

38,798

1.90

16.79

Audi

142,040

6.27

123,622

6.05

14.90

Jaguar

16,210

0.72

14,109

0.69

14.89

Renault

46,173

2.04

40,760

1.99

13.28

Land Rover

54,699

2.42

48,626

2.38

12.49

Subaru

2,271

0.10

2,023

0.10

12.26

Vauxhall

259,444

11.46

232,255

11.36

11.71

Nissan

117,967

5.21

105,835

5.18

11.46

Ford

310,865

13.73

281,917

13.79

10.27

Kia

72,090

3.18

66,629

3.26

8.20

Lexus

9,014

0.40

8,404

0.41

7.26

Citroen

78,358

3.46

73,656

3.60

6.38

BMW

135,583

5.99

127,530

6.24

6.31

Volkswagen

194,085

8.57

183,098

8.96

6.00

Peugeot

105,435

4.66

99,486

4.87

5.98

Toyota

88,648

3.91

84,563

4.14

4.83

Abarth

1,352

0.06

1,292

0.06

4.64

Hyundai

76,918

3.40

74,285

3.63

3.54

Porsche

8,260

0.36

7,998

0.39

3.28

Maserati

319

0.01

309

0.02

3.24

Volvo

32,666

1.44

31,790

1.55

2.76

Honda

55,660

2.46

54,208

2.65

2.68

MINI

51,933

2.29

51,324

2.51

1.19

Other Imports

815

0.04

814

0.04

0.12

Aston Martin

926

0.04

932

0.05

-0.64

Bentley

1,231

0.05

1,267

0.06

-2.84

Jeep

2,229

0.10

2,306

0.11

-3.34

smart

5,314

0.23

5,616

0.27

-5.38

Chevrolet

11,676

0.52

13,476

0.66

-13.36

Other British

759

0.03

926

0.05

-18.03

Alfa Romeo

5,687

0.25

7,253

0.35

-21.59

Ssangyong

662

0.03

875

0.04

-24.34

Chrysler

2,515

0.11

3,333

0.16

-24.54

Infiniti

386

0.02

530

0.03

-27.17

MG

504

0.02

782

0.04

-35.55

Perodua

206

0.01

416

0.02

-50.48

Proton

20

0.00

208

0.01

-90.38

Saab

3

0.00

232

0.01

-98.71

Total

2,264,737

2,044,609

10.77

By Richard Webber, content editor, MSN Cars