U.K. Light-Vehicle Market Maintains Momentum in March

New-car sales surged 17.7% year-on-year in the U.K. to 464,824 units in March, the best result for the month in a decade

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says only March 2004, with 466,954 deliveries, had a better result since the region moved to a twice-yearly license-plate change in 1999.

March typically is biggest sales month of the year, and the latest numbers pushed first-quarter results up 13.7% to 688,122 units.

The SMMT also says March was the biggest month yet for alternatively fueled vehicles, as volumes soared 63.8% to 8,713 units.

SMMT CEO Mike Hawes says the last month’s result showed surprisingly strong growth and reflected intensifying consumer confidence and the availability of attractive new products.

“Given the past six years of subdued economic performance across the U.K., there is still a substantial margin of pent-up demand that is contributing to a strong new- and used-car market,” Hawes says in a statement. “We expect the market to continue to perform positively for the rest of the year, albeit at a more modest rate.”

The Ford Fiesta was the best-selling model in March with 25,753 units, followed by the Ford Focus (16,860) and Vauxhall Corsa (16,231).

The order was the same for the first quarter, with the Fiesta at 39,240; Focus, 24,759; and Corsa, 23,839.

Market leader Ford saw March new-car sales climb 15.4% to 63,149 units for a first-quarter result up 12.5% to 94,876. Commercial-vehicle deliveries edged up to 11,797 units from year-ago’s 11,649, raising total U.K. volume to 114,126 units for a 14.7% market share.

The Ford Transit and Transit Custom were the best-selling CVs both in March and the first quarter.

Ford of Britain Chairman and Managing Director Mark Ovenden says in a statement the blue oval’s sales were at their highest since 2008. “These sales are founded on growth in the more profitable retail and net-fleet sectors of the market,” he says.

Renault Group sales in the U.K., including the Renault and Dacia brands, soared a record 129% to 21,573 units in March, helping the automaker double its first-quarter deliveries to 28,483.

Sales Director Darren Payne says in a statement the result lifted Renault Group’s sales ranking from 10th last year to sixth in March, “making the Renault and Dacia franchise ever more appealing to new investors as we look to expand our dealer network in the U.K.”

Kia had its best-ever month in the U.K. with 14,787 units leaving dealer lots in March, easily topping its previous best month set in September with 12,728. That capped a record first quarter for the Korean automaker with 21,608 units sold.

The Sportage remained Kia’s top seller with 3,784 deliveries in March, ahead of the Picanto (3,114) and Rio (2,638).

Kia U.K. President and CEO Paul Philpott says in a statement nearly 60% of sales went to private buyers. “Equally satisfying is that corporate sales through our dealers are also very strong as this ensures network profitability and growth, a major target in our growth strategy,” he says.

Suzuki beat a 10-year-old mark with record first-quarter deliveries of 11,520 units, driven by a best-ever March of 8,472, toppling the previous March record set in 2007.

For its closing financial year, Suzuki sold 34,652 units cars since April 2013, the highest figure recorded for the brand in the U.K.

Strong demand for Volvo’s newest range of models resulted in a record 6,810 sales in March, making the U.K. the brand’s second-biggest global market, just 233 units behind China and even ahead of Volvo’s home turf in Sweden.

Volvo Car U.K. Sales Director Jon Wakefield says there’s no doubt people are seeing Volvo in a new light.

“It’s a really exciting time for the brand here in the U.K. and we’re delighted with this result,” he says in a statement. “Customer orders of our cars are running at record highs – 39% up on 2013 – ensuring we will see sustained growth throughout 2014 and beyond.”

The U.K. commercial-vehicle segment rose 11.4% in March to 54,232 units, boosting the first- quarter result up 10.8% to 87,491.

The SMMT says the combined March and September plate-changes typically account for about a third of the annual van market and the strong 14.6% rise to 50,064 sales was in line with expectations.

Truck sales fell 16.5% to 4,168 units for a first-quarter result down 24.7% to 7,574.

“Truck demand remained subdued as the influence of Euro 6 (emissions-reduction) legislation continues to be felt across the sector, but the level of impact has lessened steadily since January and should be minimal by midyear,” Hawes says.