Cars Registrations

Automotive industry raises 2013 new car forecast as July posts 17th consecutive monthly rise

06 August 2013 #Cars #Registrations
  • SMMT has significantly raised its forecast for 2013 new car registrations, predicting sales will reach 2.216 million units, 8.4% ahead of 2012.
  • Strong performance across the private, fleet and business market sectors saw the 17th successive monthly rise in July, growing 12.7% to 162,228 units.
  • Registrations of alternatively-fuelled vehicles grew 17.0% in the month to 2,432 and hit 17,859 units for the January to July period.
  • Plug-in car registrations have risen 70.7% over the first seven months of 2013, to 1,885 units.

“Strong business and consumer confidence in July saw the new car market continue to rise, posting double-digit growth in the month. Now we have evidence of consistent growth, we have raised our forecast for 2013 new car registrations to 2.216 million units, an increase of over 8% on last year,” said Mike Baunton, SMMT Interim Chief Executive. “Recently, we’ve seen a range of economic indicators point to improving conditions and our raised sales forecast emphasises how positively we view the rest of 2013.”

July Total Diesel Petrol AFV Private Fleet Business
2013 162,228 82,290 77,506 2,432 71,549 83,767 6,912
2012 143,884 72,501 69,304 2,079 63,937 74,275 5,672
% change 12.7% 13.5% 11.8% 17.0% 11.9% 12.8% 21.9%
Mkt share ’13 50.7% 47.8% 1.5% 44.1% 51.6% 4.3%
Mkt share ’12 50.4% 48.2% 1.4% 44.4% 51.6% 3.9%
Year-to-date Total Diesel Petrol AFV Private Fleet Business
2013 1,325,851 653,033 654,959 17,859 629,014 639,323 57,514
2012 1,201,564 613,742 571,117 16,705 540,210 611,448 49,906
% change 10.3% 6.4% 14.7% 6.9% 16.4% 4.6% 15.2%
Mkt share ’13 49.3% 49.4% 1.3% 47.4% 48.2% 4.3%
Mkt share ’12 51.1% 47.5% 1.4% 45.0% 50.9% 4.2%
Best sellers July Year-to-date
1 Fiesta 9,089 1 Fiesta 72,129
2 Focus 7,229 2 Focus 54,904
3 Astra 6,165 3 Corsa 51,133
4 Golf 5,166 4 Astra 39,896
5 Corsa 4,986 5 Golf 37,297
6 Qashqai 4,312 6 Qashqai 31,424
7 3 Series 3,070 7 Polo 26,288
8 Polo 3,001 8 3 Series 24,658
9 Juke 2,943 9 208 23,294
10 500 2,768 10 1 Series 22,437

 

  • Registrations of plug-in cars (pure electric and plug-in hybrids) over the first seven months of 2013 have risen 70.7% from 1,104 units a year ago to 1,885 units in 2013.
  • Already this year, registrations have exceeded 80% of 2012 full year volumes and are 11 times higher than 2010.
  • Growth reflects increased availability of products across the UK and wider interest from motorists looking to minimise CO2 emissions and take advantage of tax breaks.
  • More than 10,000 plug-in vehicle charging points have been installed across the country, with around half match-funded by government’s Plugged-In Places initiative.

Click through to download the full July 2013 new car registrations news release and data table.

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