Following October’s decline – the first in 44 months – registrations of new cars in the UK returned to growth in November, according to figures released today by The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
A total of 178,876 cars were registered in November 2015 a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. Overall, the market grew by 6.2% year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2015 to 2,453,426 units.
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Demand for both petrol and diesel models remained robust with respective year-on-year gains of 3.8% and 3.6% in November, while the popularity of alternatively fuelled vehicles continues to grow with an 8.6% uplift.
Registrations to fleet buyers grew by 8.7% year-on-year, while those to private customers rose by 2%.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: "November’s figures come as a reminder of the strength of the UK car market, as low interest rates and competitive finance deals continue to attract consumers to new car ownership. We have been expecting a levelling-off in demand for some time now – a development that is being realised following an unprecedented three-and-a-half years of non-stop growth."
Sue Robinson, Director of National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), said: "Growth in the business fleet market indicated continued confidence in the economy. Sales of alternatively fuelled vehicles were also up in the month which in the light of the recent emissions means that consumers are considering environmental issues at higher levels.
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By GlobalData"Competitive pricing, continued low interest rates and strong finance incentives have driven new car sales in 2015, and the NFDA expect the market to remain strong into the New Year."
Richard Jones – managing director at Black Horse – adopted a more cautious tone and expects the market to ‘cool slightly’.
He said: "As we head towards 2016 the market is showing signs of cooling on new retail registrations, although combined with the typical slowdown towards the Christmas period, sales are higher versus Nov 2014. Whilst the UK economic outlook and consumer confidence both remain positive, the pace of growth in new car sales has outstripped all these factors in the last few years.
"Even with continued UK economic growth and low interest rates, I expect the market to continue to cool slightly from the previous highs as we head into 2016. Also of interest in the November figures is the continued faster growth in fleet registrations (8.7%) versus private (2%)."
Following news that new-car registrations have grown in November, Close Brothers Motor Finance chief executive officer James Broadhead said: "Having spoken with our dealers over the month, we expected November to be a good month despite a drop in Volkswagen sales. Today’s figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that this optimism was well founded and in fact, we expect to see this trend continue into December.
"Although Christmas is traditionally seen as a slow period for purchasing, it’s essential that dealers don’t switch off over the festive period as consumers are still journeying through the buying process even if they are not transacting. This means that dealers need to ensure that they are prepared to capture sales during Christmas and into the New Year. By making sure they are in the best position in terms of sales readiness, all our dealers will be able to have a restful break confident that they have the right stock, finance options and information in place for when consumer interest returns from Boxing Day."
By brand
Ford, the best-selling brand in the UK, sold 21,597 cars in November 2015 up 12.7% from the 19,159 units it sold in September 2014. Vauxhall came second with its sales increasing by 25.8% to 20,945 units over the same period.
In spite of a 20% year-on-year fall in units sold, Volkswagen remained in third place in terms of sales, the same ranking as November 2014. The German manufacturer sold 12,958 cars in the UK in November 2015.
BMW and Audi also experienced a decrease in sales over the same period. BMW saw its sales drop by 3.17% to 11,963, while Audi sales fell by 3.17% to 11,083.
