RECORD fleet sales will be achieved in 1996 as, with two months of the year to go, registrations for the first 10 months of the year are just 70,000 units short of 1995's record of 912,629. Fleet sales in the first 10 months of the year total 842,037 - up 5.9% on 1995's 10-month total of 795,325 - with market share fractionally up at 46.47% of total new car sales against 45.95% in the first 10 months of last year.

Last month fleet sales increased by 5.1% year-on-year to 73,328 (69,752) although only Vauxhall of the 'big three' saw sales increase year-on-year and Rover recorded a massive 37.6% drop in fleet sales which the manufacturer blamed on a particularly buoyant October 1995 due to the run-out of the old 200 and 400 series models. However, while fleet sales have risen every month in 1996 on 1995 levels, October saw the return of the retail buyer to new car showrooms.

Total new car sales figures in October were a record for the month of 154,733 - 13.27% up on October 1995 sales of 136,605 - meaning that in the first 10 months of 1996 registrations total 1,811,967 compared with 1,730,771 for the same period last year - a rise of 4.69%. And, while private retail registrations increased last month by 21.02% compared with a fleet and business sector rise of 7.48% it remains clear that throughout 1996 it has been increasing company car sales which have largely driven the overall rise in new car registrations.

Top 10 best-selling fleet manufacturers in October were: Ford, 15,534; Vauxhall, 14,943; Rover, 7,552; Peugeot, 7,147; Renault, 4,669; Fiat, 3,797; Volkswagen, 3,675; Nissan, 2,929; Citroen, 2,660; Toyota, 1,551.

Top 10 best-selling fleet models in October were: Ford Mondeo, 6,425; Vauxhall Vectra, 5,390; Vauxhall Astra, 4,754;.Ford Escort, 4,506; Rover 400, 3,141; Peugeot 406, 3,111; Vauxhall Corsa, 2,936; Ford Fiesta, 2,822; Volkswagen Golf, 2,641; Peugeot 306, 2,530.