UK new car registrations fall, but Polo stays in the top 10 best-sellers
According to the latest set of figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), UK new car registrations fell in July, the first time in a year following 12 successive monthly rises. The market remains up 15.1% over the first seven months of 2009 however, and with figures down 13.2% last month, we’re pleased to report that the Polo remains in the UK’s best-sellers list. Charting in ninth place, the fifth-generation car is one position higher than June’s placing, with 2897 examples sold. The Polo’s long-standing rival, the Ford Fiesta continues to be a success story for Ford, and was once again top of the July charts, selling 6695 units.
‘A drop in private registrations compared to the scrappage-fuelled months of 2009 was expected and has brought the first market decline for 12 months,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. ‘Subdued consumer confidence and a still fragile economic recovery make the outlook for the remainder of 2010 challenging, but a stronger than expected first half means full year volumes are still forecast to exceed 2009’s total.’ Alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFV) and diesel-fuelled cars both achieved record market shares in July, with AFV volumes rising by 52.6% to take a 1.4% market share and diesel volumes up 11.8% to take a market share of 50.6%. Petrol car registrations as well as supermini and mini segment volumes fell sharply.
The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for July 2010 and the year-to-date (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:
1 Ford Fiesta: 6695 (64,203, 1st)
2 Vauxhall Astra: 4919 (51,543, 3rd)
3 Vauxhall Corsa: 4714 (49,518, 4th)
4 Ford Focus: 4208 (52,522, 2nd)
5 Nissan Qashqai: 4136 (23,380, 10th)
6 Volkswagen Golf: 4082, (35,660, 5th)
7 BMW 3 Series: 3817 (24,249, 9th)
8 Vauxhall Insignia: 2941
9 Volkswagen Polo: 2897 (29,381, 6th)
10 Vauxhall Zafira: 2875
(The 2010 year-to-date best-sellers absent from July’s sales figures were the Peugeot 207 selling 26,915 units in 7th place, and the Mini with 24,500 units, putting it in 8th place overall.)
