U.K. Car Sales Increase for 17th Consecutive Month in July

A 17th straight monthly increase saw U.K. new-car sales jump 12.7% in July to 162,228 units and prompted the industry to raise its full-year forecast.

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders interim CEO Mike Baunton says given the evidence of consistent growth, the group has boosted its forecast for 2013 deliveries to 2.216 million units, an increase of 8.4% from last year.

At the beginning of this year the SMMT had forecast a market of 2.057 million units.

“Recently, we've seen a range of economic indicators point to improving conditions and our raised sales forecast emphasizes how positively we view the rest of 2013,” Baunton says in a statement.

The July result left year-to-date car deliveries up 10.3% to 1,325,851 units.

Sales of alternatively fueled vehicles grew 17.0% in July to 2,432 units, raising the 7-month total to 17,859 units.

Plug-in electric-vehicle volume surged 70.7% year-to-date to 1,885 units and has surpassed 80% of 2012’s full-year total. Sales are 11 times higher than in 2010.

The SMMT says the growth reflects wider interest by U.K. motorists looking to minimize carbon-dioxide emissions and take advantage of tax breaks. More than 10,000 PHEV charging points have been installed across the region.

Ford continued dominating the new-car market, with the Fiesta (9,089 units) topping the July sales list ahead of the Focus (7,229). The two cars also led year-to-date deliveries, with the Fiesta (72,129 units) outpacing the Focus (54,904).

The auto maker extended its U.K. market lead as July car sales soared 38.2% to 25,597 units, boosting its 7-month total 11.9% to 188,993.

Ford’s share of car sales rose 2.8 percentage points in July to 15.8% compared with year-ago, and its share of retail deliveries for the month was up 2.7 percentage points to 13.8%.

Mercedes-Benz had its best-ever July, with sales growing 15.4% to 7,503 units and a 4.6% share. After seven months, its deliveries were up 14.9% to 61,189.

Kia also posted a record July result, with sales advancing 7.8% to 6,027 units for a 7-month total up 10.6% to 43,205. The Korean auto maker’s top performer was the Sportage (1,707), followed by the all-new cee’d (1,365).

New commercial-vehicle sales slipped 9.6% last month to 22,211 units, but remained up 6.5% year-to-date to 177,708.

Van deliveries in July fell 2.6% to 18,417 units, but the 7-month total improved 9.3% to 151,594. Truck sales rose 10.3% to 3,794, beginning to turn around the 7.8% year-to-date decline to 25,114.

SMMT Commercial Vehicle Manager Nigel Base says the industry had been expecting a rise in truck volumes, and the segment’s new momentum should continue to year’s end.

“Van registrations have fluctuated through the year, with dips following sizable peaks in demand,” Base says. “We are confident that the van market will end the year strongly, up 9.2% on 2012, topping 261,000 units.”