Fleet orders powered a 3.2% growth in new car registrations in July as retail demand continued to slow down.
July marked the 41st consecutive month of growth with 178,420 vehicles registered, according to figures released by the SMMT. The increase pushed year to date sales through the 1.5 million barrier with registrations up 6.5% to 1,555,309 units.
The July market was driven by fleet demand which grew by 6.4% to 94,359 units, giving it a 53% market share. Private registrations grew by just 1% to 77,500 units and a 43.4% market share. Registrations to businesses running less than 25 cars slumped 12.2% to 6,561 and a 3.7% market share.
Fleet currently accounts for 50.1% of registrations in the year to date compared with 48% for retail and 4.5% for business.
Although the first six months of 2015 represented an all-time record high for registrations, the SMMT said the more modest increase in July will see a levelling off of demand in the second half.
“While more moderate than in recent months, July’s rise in new car registrations is good news, and indicative of what we expect for the remainder of 2015. With demand having reached a record high in the first half of the year, we anticipate more stable growth in the coming months,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive.
July 2015 and 2015 Year to Date UK New Car Registrations
| July | Total | Diesel | Petrol | AFV | Private | Fleet | Business |
| 2015 | 178,420 | 87,672 | 86,434 | 4,314 | 77,500 | 94,359 | 6,561 |
| 2014 | 172,907 | 91,322 | 78,291 | 3,294 | 76,756 | 88,680 | 7,471 |
| % change | 3.2% | -4.0% | 10.4% | 31.0% | 1.0% | 6.4% | -12.2% |
| Mkt share ’15 | 49.1% | 48.4% | 2.4% | 43.4% | 52.9% | 3.7% | |
| Mkt share ’14 | 52.8% | 45.3% | 1.9% | 44.4% | 51.3% | 4.3% | |
| Year-to-date | Total | Diesel | Petrol | AFV | Private | Fleet | Business |
| 2015 | 1,555,309 | 753,274 | 759,788 | 42,247 | 714,479 | 779,547 | 61,283 |
| 2014 | 1,460,172 | 734,195 | 699,346 | 26,631 | 700,505 | 694,365 | 65,302 |
| % change | 6.5% | 2.6% | 8.6% | 58.6% | 2.0% | 12.3% | -6.2% |
| Mkt share ’15 | 48.4% | 48.9% | 2.7% | 45.9% | 50.1% | 3.9% | |
| Mkt share ’14 | 50.3% | 47.9% | 1.8% | 48.0% | 47.6% | 4.5% | |
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Total cars | 2,131,795 | 1,994,999 | 2,030,846 | 1,941,253 | 2,044,609 | 2,264,737 | 2,476,435 |
