SMMT Reports Slowdown In New Car Sales

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Tue, 06 Dec 2011

New car registrations in the UK fell 4.2 per cent year-on-year last month, although the drop was not as bad as originally feared.

Latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that a total of 134,027 units were registered in November, taking total UK car sales in 2011 to 1,822,065 units - 4.5 per cent less than the first 11 months of 2010.

But despite last month's dip, the November 2011 total was around 5,000 units higher than analysts had expected.

Diesel cars accounted for 55.6 per cent of all private sales - their highest ever monthly market share – while 1.6 per cent of new cars sold last month were alternatively fuelled models – also a record high.

In addition, the fuel efficiency of new models broke all records, with the average new car achieving 52.5 miles to the gallon.

The SMMT now expects sales for the whole of 2011 to reach around 1.94 million – higher than its prediction of 1.92 million but slightly down on the 2010 figure of 2.03 million units which was boosted by the Government's car scrappage scheme.

The Ford Fiesta remained the best-selling car in the UK last month, ahead of the Vauxhall Corsa and Volkswagen Golf .