LATESTÂ car registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which show a 2.4% increase to 198,706 units compared with May 2014,
It was always going to be a tough challenge for the UK new car market to maintain its run of comparative monthly growth, despite the strong start to the year. It is quite an achievement to have stretched the success story to a 39th consecutive month. The relatively positive UK economic picture is clearly supporting this key UK market.
Motorists can now choose from a diverse range of around 20 ULEVs, compared to just six in 2011
The growth in fleet sales has been key to the UK new car market maintaining this upward trend, as there has been a distinct slowing in the increase in private sales, compared to 2014.
May’s results showed that the increase in new cars sold to private buyers over the first five months rose by only c6,600, compared to a rise of c57,700 for the first five months of last year. Yet growth in fleet sales has increased from 40,000 cars to 58,000 cars in the same period.
This could be the first real indication that the consumer led growth, which kick-started the UK new car market nearly three years ago, is levelling off and is not sustainable. With the UK car parc standing at around 32.6 million cars on the road, this represents over one car for every two people.
