Good news on the motoring front as October saw UK new car registrations rise by 12.1% to a total of 151,250 and Ford’s renowned model the Fiesta maintaining its long-held position as the UK’s best-selling car, selling 8,058 units in October, for a year-to-date tally of 97,000, helping Ford to 13.7% of the market.
These buoyant figures announced by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) bring the 2012 sales total to 1,771,861 cars so far, which itself is a 5% increase on the previous year. The SMMT, hopefully, believe that 2012 will see a total of 2 million units sold, against their July forecast of 1.97 million.
The effects of austerity have impacted on the buying habits of the UK motorist with more people looking for smaller, more fuel efficient cars and those attracting the lower annual road taxes.
The ‘Mini’ segment of the market grew by a massive 52% across the year and the even smaller ‘Superminis’ segment grew by 5%. So between them, these segments account for 40% of the marketplace.
There was also a marked increase in people buying alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) with interest shown in fully electric and hybrid/electric models. This segment of the market saw growth so far in 2012 of 13%, although it still represents only a tiny 1.5% of the market.
Much of this interest could be attributed to the fact that under the government’s ‘Green’ initiatives, these cars attract no annual road tax and their users do not have to pay local congestion charges.
Very good news then for the UK, although across the wider European market, most manufacturers have seen retrenchment in sales, with Ford reporting their lowest sales in the region for 20 years.
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