Fleet and business registrations continued their slide in June as companies shied away from taking new cars on to their fleets.

Fleet registrations in June were 80,020, down 28% on the same period last year. Business sales to companies operating 25 vehicles or fewer dropped by more than a third (-34.5).

For the year-to-date, fleet sales are down 29.3% to 445,194 and business sales down 35.9% to 51,850.

There were few bright spots in June for the big fleet players, although Ford managed a near-11% increase in fleet sales thanks to strong demand for the Fiesta (up 39%). Chevrolet sales boomed by nearly 48% as buyers opted for its smaller Matiz and Aveo models, while Lexus saw a 9.8% increase – adding an extra 39 registrations.

Among the biggest losers were Saab and Renault, down 85.4% and 80.5% respectively - Saab suffering from a lack of confidence in the brand due to uncertainty over its future, and Renault still unable to find alternative sales channels now that it has moved away from daily rental business.

However, for the year to date every major manufacturer’s sales are down. At the top of the charts, Ford is down 13.4% for the period from January to June, while Vauxhall has fallen 32.4%. Again Renault and Saab have shown the biggest falls, down 69.8% and 64.3% respectively.

For the overall new car market, the impact of scrappage is beginning to show. Sales to private buyers for the month increased by 3.9%, driven by strong demand for smaller, cheaper cars.

Superminis accounted for a record 37% of the new car market in June, and manufacturers to have really benefited from the scrappage scheme include Hyundai, Kia, Chevrolet, Suzuki and Alfa Romeo.