Fleet new car sales continue upward trend

The number of new cars being registered to fleets and business increased by nearly 8% in August compared to the same month last year.

Fleet and business sales accounted for 52% of the market at 34,329 units compared to 31,866 units in August, 2012, reports the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Overall, 65,937 cars were registered, an increase of 10.9%, marking 18 months of consecutive rises as the new car market continues to grow.

"UK new car registrations have now risen consecutively for a year and a half,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive.

“Private and fleet buyers are clearly capitalising on attractive deals and new technologies against a backdrop of increasing economic confidence.

“Ahead of the September plate-change, August always has far fewer registrations, but the 10.9% rise this month bodes well for the new 63-plate."

The SMMT says that only about 3% of annual registrations occur in August ahead of September's plate change, which typically accounts for around 17% of full year registrations.

For example, August only accounted for 2.9% of the 2012 full year market and is the second smallest market of the year, after February.

New car registrations for the year now stand at 1,391,788 units, with fleet and business accounting for 53% of the market at 731,209 cars. An increase of more than 5% of the 693,220 vehicles registered in the first eight months of 2012.

August 2013 was another record-breaking month for Mercedes-Benz UK, achieving a record market share of 4.6% helped bolster best-ever YTD registrations of 64,779 units.

Meanwhile, Ford's share of retail car sales in August was up 0.2 percentage points at 11.3%, compared with August 2012, and for the year to date retail share was up 1.3 percentage points at 13.5%, compared with the same period in 2012.

Ford Fiesta was the UK best-seller in August with increased sales, compared with August 2012, while sales success across the Ford car range in 2013 has seen the Ford Ka, Fiesta, B-MAX, Focus, C-MAX and Kuga all increase sales and share for the year to date, compared with the same period in 2012.