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The March plate-change, the biggest sales month of the year saw the emergence of winners and losers in sales volumes, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT).
The market saw Chinese brand BYD begin to establish a presence with 759 cars hitting UK roads compared to 34 a year ago.
Smart saw a six-fold increase in sales year on year to 306 while Jeep saw sales rose 248% to 1,609 units. Jaguar delivered an 141.8% increase in sales to 4,690 while Renault saw a 132.7% hike to 8,783 cars.
At the other end of the scale Polestar saw a -50.4% decline to 803 cars, while DS fell -45.4% to 184 sales. Bentley took a -41.2% hit to 147 vehicles while Tesla experienced a -33.3% fall to 6,995 units, despite successive price cuts. Ford was down -16.6% to 17,026 sales for the month.
Overall fleet sales rose 29.6% as the sector continues to recover following the constrained supply of previous years. Registrations by private buyers fell by -7.7%, which the SMMT attributed to a “challenging economic backdrop” of low growth, weak consumer confidence and high interest rates.
| MARCH | % Change | ||||
| MARQUE | 2024 | % Market share | 2023 | % Market share | |
| BYD | 759 | 0.24 | 34 | 0.01 | 2,132.35 |
| smart | 306 | 0.10 | 42 | 0.01 | 628.57 |
| Jeep | 1,609 | 0.51 | 462 | 0.16 | 248.27 |
| Jaguar | 4,690 | 1.48 | 1,940 | 0.67 | 141.75 |
| Renault | 8,783 | 2.76 | 3,773 | 1.31 | 132.79 |
| Lexus | 2,758 | 0.87 | 1,450 | 0.50 | 90.21 |
| Alpine | 90 | 0.03 | 49 | 0.02 | 83.67 |
| Honda | 7,919 | 2.49 | 4,766 | 1.66 | 66.16 |
| GWM Ora | 310 | 0.10 | 188 | 0.07 | 64.89 |
| Subaru | 641 | 0.20 | 445 | 0.15 | 44.04 |
| Other Imports | 387 | 0.12 | 277 | 0.10 | 39.71 |
| BMW | 20,065 | 6.31 | 14,463 | 5.02 | 38.73 |
| Peugeot | 11,944 | 3.76 | 8,715 | 3.03 | 37.05 |
| Cupra | 3,982 | 1.25 | 2,952 | 1.03 | 34.89 |
| Skoda | 9,982 | 3.14 | 7,492 | 2.60 | 33.24 |
| Volvo | 7,526 | 2.37 | 5,663 | 1.97 | 32.90 |
| Vauxhall | 15,553 | 4.89 | 12,091 | 4.20 | 28.63 |
| SEAT | 6,041 | 1.90 | 4,868 | 1.69 | 24.10 |
| Dacia | 4,993 | 1.57 | 4,078 | 1.42 | 22.44 |
| Nissan | 20,559 | 6.47 | 16,994 | 5.90 | 20.98 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 19,794 | 6.23 | 16,443 | 5.71 | 20.38 |
| Suzuki | 5,049 | 1.59 | 4,376 | 1.52 | 15.38 |
| Total | 317,786 | 287,825 | 10.41 | ||
| Land Rover | 12,376 | 3.89 | 11,260 | 3.91 | 9.91 |
| MG | 12,934 | 4.07 | 12,232 | 4.25 | 5.74 |
| Volkswagen | 22,147 | 6.97 | 21,747 | 7.56 | 1.84 |
| Fiat | 3,387 | 1.07 | 3,369 | 1.17 | 0.53 |
| Hyundai | 13,570 | 4.27 | 13,532 | 4.70 | 0.28 |
| CHEVROLET | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Fisker | 10 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Ineos | 38 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| KGM | 385 | 0.12 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Ssangyong | 0.00 | 257 | 0.09 | 0.00 | |
| Audi | 18,454 | 5.81 | 19,039 | 6.61 | -3.07 |
| Kia | 18,478 | 5.81 | 19,703 | 6.85 | -6.22 |
| Mazda | 4,628 | 1.46 | 4,986 | 1.73 | -7.18 |
| Citroen | 4,870 | 1.53 | 5,328 | 1.85 | -8.60 |
| Other British | 533 | 0.17 | 590 | 0.20 | -9.66 |
| Alfa Romeo | 196 | 0.06 | 223 | 0.08 | -12.11 |
| Toyota | 16,886 | 5.31 | 19,253 | 6.69 | -12.29 |
| MINI | 6,484 | 2.04 | 7,503 | 2.61 | -13.58 |
| Porsche | 3,128 | 0.98 | 3,690 | 1.28 | -15.23 |
| Ford | 17,026 | 5.36 | 20,415 | 7.09 | -16.60 |
| Genesis | 141 | 0.04 | 176 | 0.06 | -19.89 |
| Tesla | 6,995 | 2.20 | 10,493 | 3.65 | -33.34 |
| Bentley | 147 | 0.05 | 250 | 0.09 | -41.20 |
| DS | 184 | 0.06 | 337 | 0.12 | -45.40 |
| Polestar | 803 | 0.25 | 1,620 | 0.56 | -50.43 |
| Maserati | 91 | 0.03 | 196 | 0.07 | -53.57 |
| Maxus | 1 | 0.00 | 3 | 0.00 | -66.67 |