UK Car Sales Rise Yet Again

More good news for the car industry as new car sales in the UK saw a 13.5% increase in May compared with May 2009.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Trader (SMMT), there were over 153,000 new car sales in this country, up from just under 135,000 during the same period last year.  This made it 11 straight rises in sales as the industry regains its feet after a terrible period during the recession.

However, the coming months are going to be ‘extremely challenging,’ according to the SMMT, as it expects the full year sales to dip slightly after the end of the scrappage scheme.

The scheme, whereby buyers were offered a £2,000 discount for scrapping their car if it was more than 10 years old ran from May last year through to the end of March this year.

The SMMT now believes that the vast majority, if not all, orders made during the scrappage scheme have now been delivered after only 2.7% of deliveries taken last month were part of the scheme, way down on the 17% average that have been since the scheme began.

"It is essential that the upcoming emergency Budget promotes consumer and business confidence to maintain economic recovery," said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.

Sales to private buyers were up 12.3% in May, while sales to the fleet market rose by 16%.

The Ford Focus has finally knocked its smaller rival, the Fiesta off top spot in the car sales list, the Fiesta had seen the highest sales figures in all four of the previous months.  However, this month it fell to third, behind both the Focus and the new Vauxhall Astra.

Meanwhile, the sales of alternatively fuelled vehicles rose again last month by a staggering 195%, carrying its market share up to 1.1%, compared with just 0.4% this time last year.

Taking the year so far into consideration, sales figures are up by 22% compared with the opening 5 months of 2009, reflecting just how weak the 2009 car market was.

Posted at 03:28PM Jun 04, 2010 by Marc Stenton in UK Economy News  |  Comments[0]