New car market rises 8% in May

The new car market saw further growth in May with registrations up 7.7% to 194,032 units, according to the SMMT.

This rise marked the 27^th month of consecutive growth, the longest period since the late 1980s, although the SMMT warned the market is now likely to level off over the coming months.

“The new car market has now grown in every month since March 2012 – the longest period of growth on record and a reflection of the UK’s ever-improving economic conditions,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes.

“With the SMMT forecasting an overall rise of around 6% over the year, the coming months should see some levelling off in growth rates as underlying demand stabilises.”

Hawes said the market continued to be fuelled by new products, improved fuel economy and competitive deals helping make a new car more affordable

Sales during the month pushed the year to date figure over the one million mark with 1,058,974 cars registered so far in 2014, a year on year increase of 11.6%.

May saw retail sales rise by 7.7%, sales to fleets operating over 25 cars rose by 6.5%, while the sub-25 car business surged 26.8%.

Meanwhile, improvements in the light commercial sector continued in May, after a slight dip in April, with registrations climbing 18.4% to 24,283 units pushing the year to date up by 13.3%.

Top 10 Selling Cars in May 2014

1 Ford Fiesta              9,450
2 Volkswagen Golf   7,134
3 Vauxhall Corsa      6,536
4 Ford Focus             5,824
5 Vauxhall Astra      5,035
6 Nissan Qashqai      4,144
7 Audi A3                   3,886
8 VW Polo                 3,607
9 Fiat 500                  2,896
10 Vauxhall Mokka  2,801

Source: SMMT