Year-to-date car registrations overtake 2012 full-year total

SMMT figures reveal that new car registrations rose seven per cent in November to 159,581 units, the month’s best performance since 2004. 2,111,819 cars have been registered for the year-to-date, up 9.9 per cent and already ahead of the 2012 full-year figure of 2,044,609. This means that the car market is on target to hit the SMMT forecast of 2.25 million registrations for 2013.

“Motorists have bought more than two million cars so far in 2013, a tremendous success for the industry on the back of buoyant consumer confidence and innovative new products,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive. “With the UK economy looking increasingly positive, we can expect strong underlying demand for new cars to continue into 2014, with volumes set to match or surpass those seen this year.”

Commenting on the figures, Sue Robinson, Director of National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, said: “It is extremely encouraging to see that the new car market continued on its upward trend in November”. Robinson added that private registrations have risen 11.6 per cent, whilst fleet sales increased by 3.4 per cent.

Robinson continued “Consumer confidence continued to grow with November reporting its best performance since 2014.

“Competitive pricing and strong incentives have driven new car sales in 2013. Dealers have reported increased footfall in showrooms throughout the year and this continued in to November. The NFDA expect the market to remain strong into the New Year as consumer confidence continues to grow as the UK economy continues to recover.”