Volkswagen Polo is one of 2010’s best-selling cars in the UK
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ (SMMT) latest set of UK car sales figures are in, and it’s good news for the Polo. Re-entering the top 10 in November 2010, it charts in sixth place for December. Even more encouragingly, it was the sixth best-selling car in the UK last year, selling 45,517 units, 8000 more than Volkswagen UK’s early forecasts. December saw 3724 Polos find UK buyers. Rival to the Polo, the Ford Fiesta, was two places down on November’s placings, selling 4560 units (the Vauxhall Astra was first with 5377), but the small Ford grabbed the 2010 overall best-seller title for the second successive year, shifting 103,013 examples. Ford was again the best-selling brand.
Registrations fell by 18.0% in December, with the market a little below expectations. If scrappage volumes were removed completely from the December 2009 tally, then the December 2010 figure would have been up almost 6,000 units or 4.8%. On a more positive note, the SMMT reports that the 2010 market rose by 35,847 units to 2,030,846 units, ending 1.8% up on 2009 figures. The market is forecast to decline by 5% in 2011 to 1.93 million units as difficult market conditions continue. ‘2010 was a year of recovery for the motor industry,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. ‘Economic conditions remain challenging, but the industry expects demand to strengthen in the second half of the year.’
To see the Volkswagen Polo’s UK sales figures for 2010, visit our fifth-generation Polo ‘Heritage’ sales figures page here. The UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for December 2010 and the year (sales figure and position in brackets) are as follows:
1 Vauxhall Astra: 5377 (80,646, 2nd)
2 Vauxhall Corsa: 4737 (77,398, 4th)
3 Ford Fiesta: 4560 (103,013, 1st)
4 Mini: 4236 (41,883, 9th)
5 Ford Focus: 3831 (77,804, 3rd)
6 Volkswagen Polo: 3724 (45,282, 6th)
7 Volkswagen Golf: 3267 (58,116, 5th)
8 Nissan Qashqai: 2841 (39,048, 10th)
9 Vauxhall Insignia: 2587
10 BMW 3 Series: 2477 (42,020, 8th)
(The 2010 best-seller absent from December’s sales figures is the Peugeot 207 selling 42,185 units in 7th place.)