Volkswagen Polo climbs four places in UK’s most popular cars chart
Following its re-entry into the UK’s top ten most popular cars chart in October after an absence in September’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) figures, the Volkswagen Polo climbed four places in November’s list. A total of 3,115 Polos were registered in the UK during November, rewarding it sixth place. Its tally of 40,221 units puts it seventh in the year-to-date list.
The Polo slipped out of September’s UK most popular cars listing due to new regulation and the introduction of the new Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) certification. This legislation requires car manufacturers to test their complete model range to the new standards that measure fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from passenger cars, as well as their pollutant emissions. September’s figures showed an across the board dip of 20 per cent, so we suspect it wasn’t just Volkswagen which was affected. In October, the Polo reappeared on the rundown in tenth place.
Steady decline
In November, UK registrations dipped 3.0 per cent compared to the same period in 2017, maintaining its steady decline thanks to, states the SMMT, ‘uncertainty, falling customer confidence and supply constraints’. Year-to-date figures point to a 6.9 per cent drop in demand for January to November, which is ‘in line with industry expectations’, the SMMT says.
As ever, the Ford Fiesta still tops the monthly and year-to-date charts, with 5,193 and 90,173 units registered respectively. Volkswagen’s Golf was second with 4,678 cars finding new homes, and with 60,605 units registered during the year so far, it sits in second place behind the Fiesta in the year-to-date list. The UK’s top 10 most popular cars during November 2018 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) were as follows:
1 Ford Fiesta: 5,193 (90,173, 1st)
2 Volkswagen Golf: 4,678 (60,605, 2nd)
3 Mercedes-Benz A-Class: 4,104 (39,243, 8th)
4 Nissan Qashqai: 3,195 (47,937, 4th)
5 Mini: 3,170 (40,254, 6th)
6 Volkswagen Polo: 3,115 (40,221, 7th)
7 Ford Focus: 3,068 (46,573, 5th)
8 Vauxhall Mokka X: 2,778
9 Kia Sportage: 2,731 (34,069, 10th)
10 Vauxhall Corsa: 2,594 (48,651, 3rd)
(The UK’s 2018 year-to-date top ten most popular car absent from November’s registration figures was the ninth-placed Ford Kuga with 37,752 registrations.)
Chart topper
In South Africa the latest sixth-generation Polo followed on from its lead for October, and topped the passenger car sales chart with 3,092 cars registered. With 2,427 units in new garages, the fifth-generation Polo-based Polo Vivo was again fast in its tyre tracks. In contrast to the UK, Ford Fiesta registrations totalled just 980. Overall, the South African new car market saw a year-on-year decline in November, with overall sales of 47,486, down 4.6 per cent on the same month in 2017.
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