Polo retains a foothold in the UK’s top 10 best-selling new cars
The latest UK car sales figures have been released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and the good news is that the Polo remains rooted in the top 10 new cars chosen by UK buyers. UK new car registrations rose again in June, up 10.8%, recording an overall increase of 19.9% during the first half of 2010. Encouragingly, the market as a whole was up despite the end of the UK scrappage scheme, but volumes are expected to slip in the second half of the year.
‘The new car market continued to perform above expectations in June, with fleet sector registrations up 25% compared to this time last year. The results indicate improved business confidence and a strengthening economic recovery’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. The actual figures were up by 180,000 units to over 1.1 million units, with the last quarter seeing an 11.8% increase. June 2010 saw the 12th successive rise – 16% above the SMMT’s forecast in April – but volumes were still 8.5% off the 1999-2009 average.
The Polo still retained a foothold in the new cars top 10, selling 3923 units, putting it in 10th place, a fall of three places from May 2010. However, year-to-date figures place it in 6th position, ahead of the Mini and the Peugeot 207. The Vauxhall Astra was the best selling model in June, its first number one slot since February 2008. Ford’s Fiesta had the highest registrations over the first half of 2010.
The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for June 2010 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:
1 Vauxhall Astra: 10525 units (46,264, 3rd)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 9642 units (44,804, 4th)
3 Ford Fiesta: 8279 units (57,508, 1st)
4 Ford Focus: 6895 units (48,314, 2nd)
5 Nissan Qashqai: 5636 units
6 Mini: 4925 units (22,266, 8th)
7 Volkswagen Golf: 4486 units (31,578, 5th)
8 BMW 3 Series: 4363 units (20,432 units, 9th)
9 Vauxhall Insignia: 4090 units
10 Volkswagen Polo: 3932 units (26,484, 6th)
(The 2010 year-to-date best-sellers absent from June’s sales figures were the Peugeot 207 selling 24,252 units in 7th place, and the Renault Clio with 20,114 units, putting it in 10th place overall.)
