New car registrations rose 6% to 492,774 units in March, the best month since the twice-yearly number plate changes were introduced in 1999.
Year to date the market is ahead 6.8% to 734,588 units, according to figures from the SMMT.
New car registrations March and 2015 YTD (Source: SMMT)
| March | Total | Diesel | Petrol | AFV | Private | Fleet | Business |
| 2015 | 492,774 | 229,357 | 249,082 | 14,335 | 253,043 | 219,153 | 20,578 |
| 2014 | 464,824 | 222,409 | 233,702 | 8,713 | 246,488 | 196,304 | 22,032 |
| % change | 6.0% | 3.1% | 6.6% | 64.5% | 2.7% | 11.6% | -6.6% |
| Mkt share ’15 | 46.5% | 50.5% | 2.9% | 51.4% | 44.5% | 4.2% | |
| Mkt share ’14 | 47.8% | 50.3% | 1.9% | 53.0% | 42.2% | 4.7% | |
| Year-to-date | Total | Diesel | Petrol | AFV | Private | Fleet | Business |
| 2015 | 734,588 | 349,741 | 364,062 | 20,785 | 351,571 | 354,690 | 28,327 |
| 2014 | 688,122 | 334,962 | 340,376 | 12,784 | 347,668 | 309,545 | 30,909 |
| % change | 6.8% | 4.4% | 7.0% | 62.6% | 1.1% | 14.6% | -8.4% |
| Mkt share ’15 | 47.6% | 49.6% | 2.8% | 47.9% | 48.3% | 3.9% | |
| Mkt share ’14 | 48.7% | 49.5% | 1.9% | 50.5% | 45.0% | 4.5% |
The March market was fuelled by the fleet market, which rose 11.6%, reflecting growing confidence in the UK economy. Year to date fleet sales are ahead 14.6%.
Private sales rose 2.7% for the month and year to date are ahead 1.1%. The retail market has been powered over the past 18 months by strong fiancé deals, the growth of PCPs and low interest rates.
There has been growing concern, however, that sales are being distorted by dealers having to increasingly pre-register cars in order to meet targets.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said, “The best month this century for new car registrations is a welcome boost for the UK’s thriving automotive sector.”
Chris Sutton, managing director of finance firm Black Horse said: “The industry has for a while been suggesting that demand will ease for new cars but based on current data it is hard to predict when this growth will slow down.
“Certainly the continued low interest rate environment coupled with attractive and affordable car finance deals continue to play a strong role in maintaining growth in this part of the UK economy.”
