The new car market has officially grown month on month for three years with registrations up in February by 12%, according to figures released by the SMMT.
A 20% increase in demand from fleets resulted in a total of 76,958 new cars being registered which pushed year to date volumes up by 8.3%. Retail registrations grew 3.4% in what is traditionally one of the quietest months for the market ahead of the March plate-change.
February was the 36th consecutive month of growth making it the longest sustained growth period for the new car market since the 1980s. The rise prompted the SMMT repeated its expectation that registrations will stabilise over the course of the year.
“Three years of continuous growth in the new car market is remarkable and reflects the strong upturn in the confidence of UK car buyers since the recession,” said Mike Hawes, the SMMT’s chief executive.
“Registrations of fleet and business cars have outpaced the private market in February, reflecting the increased business confidence across the UK. With most fleet car buyers on a three-year replacement cycle, many of those cars purchased at the beginning of the current growth period are now due for replacement. Over the course of 2015, however, we are expecting a more stable market to emerge given there has already been an extended period of consistent growth.”
