September UK best-sellers chart sales climb for Polo, says SMMT
The Polo climbed two places up the UK best-sellers chart to sixth place last month, while the Ford Fiesta was once again the nation’s favourite, with the Vauxhall Corsa in third, according to the latest batch of UK sales figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ (SMMT). New car sales in the plate-change month of September saw 332,476 new cars registered, just 0.8% down on the same period in 2010. September is the second largest single month for new car registrations, and 2011’s figures are just behind March 2011’s 366,101 units, representing 17% of the annual market. Despite declining 2011 volumes, superminis accounted for the largest proportion of this September’s figures, at 37.8%.
‘The all-important September market outperformed expectations and is less than 1% below last year at 332,476 units,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. ‘We expected 2011 to be a challenging year and we are on track for a full year total of around 1.92 million new car registrations, 5% below 2010. SMMT has revised down its 2012 registrations forecast to 1.96 million units; a reflection of the continued weakness in UK domestic demand and the uncertainty across European economies. It is important government acts to sustain an investment-led recovery and implements measures to encourage more private sector investment in R&D, skills, new plants and machinery.’ The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars in September 2011 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:
1 Ford Fiesta: 15,647 (77,198, 1st)
2 Ford Focus: 14,754 (67,672, 2nd)
3 Vauxhall Corsa: 14,339 (60,959, 3rd)
4 Volkswagen Golf: 10,628 (50,013, 4th)
5 Vauxhall Astra: 10,462 (49,042, 5th)
6 Volkswagen Polo: 8607 (36,655, 7th)
7 Vauxhall Insignia: 7323 (38,386, 6th)
8 Mini: 6903 (28,097, 10th)
9 BMW 3 Series: 6352 (33,650, 8th)
10 Nissan Qashqai: 6068 (30,763, 9th)