May 2010 car sales up
June 4th, 2010 by Richard Aucock
SMMT figures show May new car sales rose by 13.5 percent but the SMMT expects the market to now start declining.
The May rise is the 11th successive one and saw the Ford Focus displace the Fiesta as the UK’s top car.
However, now the scrappage boost has ended, the SMMT is predicting a modest decline in new car registrations for the rest of the year.
‘May was another good month for the UK new car market, although we expect the coming months to be extremely challenging,’ said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.
‘It is essential that the upcoming emergency budget promotes consumer and business confidence to maintain economic recovery.’
Both fleet and retail sales were good in May, although they remain weak compared to 2008 sales; indeed, they are nearly 15 percent down, equating to more than 26,000 new car sales.
Registrations in May 2010 are still enjoying a small boost from the scrappage scheme, although almost all have now been delivered. May scrappage sales equated to 2.7 percent of the total market.
The rise of the Ford Focus knocked the Fiesta off the top slot for the first time this year. Indeed, the Fiesta is down to third, as Vauxhall’s new Astra also enjoyed gains to take 2nd place.
City car and supermini sectors in general started to cool, as the exceptional growth of recent months finally started to even out.
Looking at your own new car registrations, what do you expect will happen through the rest of the year?