Fiesta topped sales chart in June
Private buyer registrations on new cars rose in June for the first time since November 2007, with a 3.9 per cent increase year-on-year according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The improvements are at least in part due to consumers cashing in on the Government's popular scrappage scheme.
Outside of the private buyer sector things are not quite as rosy, with overall new car registrations still falling, but sales fell at their slowest rate in almost a year this June, with a drop of 15.7 per cent year-on-year. That compares with figures of 24 per cent in April and 25 per cent in May, and offers the first optimistic hint of recovery for the new car market, though few in the industry will be counting their chickens just yet.
The top sellers in June were the Ford Fiesta and Focus in first and second, with the Vauxhall Corsa and Astra following, and the Peugeot 207, MINI and VW Golf fifth sixth and seventh respectively. Completing the top 10 were three saloon cars weathering the economic storm surprisingly well. The enduring popularity of the Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Insignia and BMW 3-Series suggests that, despite the overall trend toward smaller cars (superminis accounted for a record 37.2 per cent market share in June), the days of the traditional saloon car are far from over.
The SMMT estimates that 10 per cent of June's 176,264 new car sales were directly due to the government's scrappage scheme, which has only been in place since May 18th and is still proving popular as the summer rolls on. The government says that around 87,000 new cars have been ordered under the scheme so far, with almost 30,000 already delivered.
Hyundais are coming - Maestro, run for your life!
The biggest beneficiary of scrappage scheme sales throughout June was Hyundai, outselling its closest rival Toyota by nearly 15 per cent. While these are still pretty low figures, the scheme is still gathering pace and it is not clear whether these figures are on completed sales alone or on all orders made.
Depending on who you talk to, this may not be all good news. Back in late May Hyundai revealed some of the classics that had been surrendered under the scrappage 'scream', and it made for pretty grim reading. Now that many parties are calling for an extension to the scheme, petrolheads may have to spend a little longer on those tenterhooks, with fears that more classic and historical vehicles will be sent to the crusher by that owner just desperate for the latest special edition i10.
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