U.K. Enjoys 19th Straight Month of LV Sales Gains

U.K. new-car sales improved 12.1% year-on-year to 403,136 units in September, the 19^th consecutive month of increasing volume and the best result in 66 months.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says sales are back to 2007 levels as buyers return to the market, with the latest vehicles and favorable finance packages fueling demand.

Releasing the latest figures, SMMT CEO Mike Hawes says the U.K. market is reflecting growing economic confidence.

“Robust private demand has played a major role in this growth,” he says in a statement.

“With fleet and business demand still to reach pre-recession levels, we believe the performance to be sustainable.”

Private-sector purchases advanced 17.9% in September to 208,844 units, while fleet sales edged up 5.4% to 170,569 and business deliveries climbed 15.3% to 23,732.

The result left the 9-month results up 10.8% to 1,794,924 units. Of that total, private sales gained 16.7% to 869,421 units, fleet deliveries rose 4.8% to 842,274 and business purchases were ahead 15.3% to 83,229 units.

Market leader Ford boosted September car sales 7.8% to 51,084 units, for a 9-month total up 10.99% to 249,017.

The Ford Fiesta was the month’s best-seller with 20,629 units, ahead of the Opel Corsa (14,464) and the Ford Focus (14,464).

The Fiesta also was in front after nine months with 96,047 deliveries, followed by the Focus (71,424) and Corsa (67,748).

In the process, Ford extended the sales gap over its nearest rival 15.1% in September and 8.6% year-to-date.

Across the Ford car range the Ford Ka, Fiesta, B-Max, Focus, C-Max and Kuga all saw higher sales and share through nine months, compared with the same period in 2012.

Sales of Ford commercial vehicles after nine months rose 4.8% to 55,589 units. The automaker claimed a 21.2% market share in September and 21.9% penetration year-to-date.

The Ford Transit, in its 48th consecutive year as the U.K.’s best-selling CV, held a 14.7% share through September, compared with 5.7% for its nearest challenger.

Audi U.K.’s September sales of 25,829 units were the highest in its 49-year history. The result raised year-to-date deliveries to a record 114,261 and closer to the brand’s 2012 full-year total of 123,622.

“Despite these record sales numbers, our future customer order bank is also at an all-time high,” Audi U.K. sales chief Paul Sansom says in a statement.

Kia also enjoyed its best-ever month with deliveries up 9.7% to 12,728 units, topping the old mark of 12,633 set in March. Sportage SUV sales totaled 3,356 in September.

Jaguar Land Rover also notched record U.K. sales with September deliveries accelerating 11% to 10,769 units.

Overall commercial-vehicle deliveries remained strong in September, rising 12.4% to 49,197 units for a 9-month total up 8.1% to 239,356.

Van sales climbed 10.3% for the month to 43,066 units for a year-to-date total up 9.6% to 205,004. Truck demand surged 29.7% in the month to 6,131, indicating the segment’s recovery is on course and now down just 0.1% to 34,352 year-to-date.

Hawes says greater confidence and impending Euro 6 emissions legislation produced a strong recovery in truck volumes.

“Encouragingly, van registration levels have stabilized, up around 10% in the month and year-to-date, after a variable year that reacted to model changes and changeable market conditions,” he says. “Year-to-date truck demand is back to 2012 levels after a slow start to the year and we expect the last quarter to be very strong for the sector.”