UK new car registrations beat 2012 total – a month early

New car registrations rose by 7% last month, the best performance in almost a decade – and a rise that has seen the total registrations for 2012 already beaten with a month still to go.

159,581 new cars were registered last month, taking the year to date total up to 2,111,819. This easily tops the 2,044,609 new cars registered in 2012.

2013 UK new car sales forecast revised upwards

European new car sales in record LOW

“Motorists have bought more than two million cars so far in 2013, a tremendous success for the industry on the back of buoyant consumer confidence and innovative new products,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive.

“With the UK economy looking increasingly positive, we can expect strong underlying demand for new cars to continue into 2014, with volumes set to match or surpass those seen this year.”

The SMMT predicts new car registrations will reach the 2.25 million mark in both 2014 and 2015 – and also says that total is expected to be reached this year too.

Once again, the Ford Fiesta was the most popular new car in Britain, by a clear margin over the next-best Ford Focus. Vauxhall was third with the Astra, then the Corsa – a long way back its Ford supermini arch-rival.

Impressively, the newly refreshed Vauxhall Insignia took sixth place in the new car registrations chart, while the evergreen Nissan Qashqai was in seventh – despite the all-new one being revealed and on sale soon!

BRITAIN’S BEST-SELLING CARS – NOVEMBER 2013

1: Ford Fiesta

2: Ford Focus

3: Vauxhall Astra

4: Vauxhall Corsa

5: Volkswagen Golf

6: Vauxhall Insignia

7: Nissan Qashqai

8: Fiat 500

9: BMW 3 Series

10: Nissan Juke

The UK’s top 10 best selling cars of 2012

By motoringresearch.com