The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has significantly raised its forecast for 2013 new car registrations, predicting sales will reach 2.216 million units, 8.4% ahead of 2012.

Strong performance across the private, fleet and business market sectors saw the 17th successive monthly rise in July, growing 12.7% to 162,228 units.

Fleet and business sales accounted for 90,679 units - 56% of the market - and was a 13% increase on the 79,947 units registered in July, 2012.

"Strong business and consumer confidence in July saw the new car market continue to rise, posting double-digit growth in the month,” said Mike Baunton, SMMT interim chief executive.

“Now we have evidence of consistent growth, we have raised our forecast for 2013 new car registrations to 2.216 million units, an increase of over 8% on last year.

"Recently, we've seen a range of economic indicators point to improving conditions and our raised sales forecast emphasises how positively we view the rest of 2013."

Fleet and business registrations have accounted for 53% of the market in 2013 at 696,837 units – an increase of almost 6% on the 661,354 units registered in the same period last year.

Registrations of alternatively-fuelled vehicles grew and were up by 17% in the month to 2,432 and hit 17,859 units for the January to July period. Plug-in car registrations have also risen, with registrations up by 71% over the first seven months of 2013, to 1,885 units.

Richard Lowe, head of retail & wholesale at Barclays, said: “After passing the half year mark with strong numbers, we continue to see robust sales keeping the UK car market head and shoulders above our European counterparts.

“As September approaches all eyes will be on the next plate change, with exciting new models and consistently attractive offers, we’re unlikely to see the status quo changing any time soon.”

However, with European new car sales, excluding the UK, reporting a 9.8% reduction for the first six months of the year, the strength of the growth in the UK car market is in stark contrast to the decline seen on the continent.

David Raistrick, UK automotive leader at Deloitte, said: “Admittedly, the growth has been achieved against the relatively depressed post 2007 years and overall sales are not anticipated to reach the pre-recession level of 2.4 million this year.

“However, the UK remains the shining beacon as other EU member states continue to struggle with the challenges of financial constraint and overcapacity in the wider European market.”

Best sellers

July

 

 

 

   Year-to-date

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

Fiesta

9,089

 

1

Fiesta

72,129

2

Focus

7,229

 

2

Focus

54,904

3

Astra

6,165

 

3

Corsa

51,133

4

Golf

5,166

 

4

Astra

39,896

5

Corsa

4,986

 

5

Golf

37,297

6

Qashqai

4,312

 

6

Qashqai

31,424

7

3 Series

3,070

 

7

Polo

26,288

8

Polo

3,001

 

8

3 Series

24,658

9

Juke

2,943

 

9

208

23,294

10

500

2,768

 

10

1 Series

22,437


 

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