- New car registrations rose 7.9% in May to 162,288 units.
- Largest percentage rise for 23 months boosted by 14.3% growth in private demand.
- Ending a three-month decline, the fleet market was up 4.8% in May.
- Registrations over January-May have risen 2.6% to 868,166 units.
“May’s 7.9% increase in new car registrations is good news for the motor industry and the UK economy, particularly the steady growth in demand from private buyers,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive. “There is no doubt that vehicle manufacturers and their dealer networks are working hard to deliver value for money to motorists and the consistent climb in new car registrations during the first five months of the year suggests that confidence is returning, despite financial uncertainty in the eurozone.”
May 2012 new car registrations data tables
| May | Total | Diesel | Petrol | AFV | Private | Fleet | Business |
| 2012 | 162,288 | 85,081 | 75,099 | 2,108 | 69,672 | 87,126 | 5,490 |
| 2011 | 150,431 | 79,562 | 69,270 | 1,599 | 60,963 | 83,121 | 6,347 |
| % change | 7.9% | 6.9% | 8.4% | 31.8% | 14.3% | 4.8% | -13.5% |
| Mkt share ’12 | 52.4% | 46.3% | 1.3% | 42.9% | 53.7% | 3.4% | |
| Mkt share ’11 | 52.9% | 46.0% | 1.1% | 40.5% | 55.3% | 4.2% | |
| Year-to-date | Total | Diesel | Petrol | AFV | Private | Fleet | Business |
| 2012 | 868,166 | 443,519 | 412,502 | 12,145 | 396,364 | 435,501 | 36,301 |
| 2011 | 846,513 | 423,174 | 411,992 | 11,347 | 365,406 | 435,607 | 45,500 |
| % change | 2.6% | 4.8% | 0.1% | 7.0% | 8.5% | 0.0% | -20.2% |
| Mkt share ’12 | 51.1% | 47.5% | 1.4% | 45.7% | 50.2% | 4.2% | |
| Mkt share ’11 | 50.0% | 48.7% | 1.3% | 43.2% | 51.5% | 5.4% |
| Best sellers | May | Year-to-date | |||||||||||
| 1 | Corsa | 8,413 | 1 | Fiesta | 50,507 | ||||||||
| 2 | Fiesta | 8,337 | 2 | Corsa | 38,347 | ||||||||
| 3 | Focus | 6,983 | 3 | Focus | 36,916 | ||||||||
| 4 | Golf | 5,867 | 4 | Golf | 28,261 | ||||||||
| 5 | Astra | 5,433 | 5 | Astra | 25,011 | ||||||||
| 6 | 3 Series | 3,520 | 6 | Polo | 18,971 | ||||||||
| 7 | Polo | 3,228 | 7 | Qashqai | 18,660 | ||||||||
| 8 | Qashqai | 3,179 | 8 | 3 Series | 17,205 | ||||||||
| 9 | Insignia | 2,949 | 9 | Insignia | 15,031 | ||||||||
| 10 | 500 | 2,823 | 10 | C-Class | 14,434 | ||||||||
Market up for third successive month and fleet market returns to growth
- The new car market rose 7.9% or 11,857 units in May to 162,288 units. This was the strongest rate of growth since the scrappage-induced rise in June 2010 and was the third, and largest, monthly increase in a row.
- Registrations over the first five months of 2012 have improved by 2.6% to 868,166 units. This was a 21,653 unit increase over last year, with this growth firmly established in the past three months.
- The 12-month running rate stood at 1.963 million units in May, almost unchanged from a year ago but some 20,000 units above the 2011 full year figure of 1,941,343 units.
- Recent growth in the market has been supported by improved private volumes, which have recovered to post an 8.5% rise over the first five months of 2012, with a 14.3% increase in May. Fleet volumes also picked up in May.
- The May market was more than 6% and 9,000 units above SMMT’s forecast for the month.
- As new models came to market, the alternatively-fuelled sector grew 31.8%. Petrol and diesel cars also recorded growth in the month and the year-to-date.
- New models helped the Mini segment rise 85.8% in May. The Dual Purpose, Lower Medium, Supermini and Specialist Sports segments also recorded improved volumes in the month.
- The Vauxhall Corsa was the best-selling model in May, with Ford’s Fiesta top over the first five months of 2012.
Click through to download the full May 2012 new car registrations news release and data tables.
