Continued growth in the new car market has forced the industry to revise up its forecast of annual registrations. Twenty months of continued growth led the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to increase predictions for a full year from 2.22m to 2.25m units.
The SMMT said 157,314 new cars were registered in October, an increase of four per cent over October 2012. The increase saw registrations grow 10.2 per cent to 1,952,238 units.
It said that the growth is mainly driven by the private market. It saw a 4.5 per cent gain in October and a 15.7 per cent increase over the year to date.
Despite the revised forecast, the SMMT expects the market to begin to stabilise, and will grow at around one per cent in 2014 and 2015.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “With October new car registrations up, we have now seen 20 consecutive months of growth.
“These sustained rises have been driven by robust private demand, a trend that has given us the confidence to raise our year-end forecast to 2.25 million units – 10 per cent ahead of last year. Looking ahead, we anticipate more moderate growth as the market stabilises.”
The Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Focus continue to occupy the top three positions, but strong performances from both the Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Juke pushed the BMW 1-series out of the top 10, while the 3-series drops to 10th.
UK BEST-SELLERS, OCTOBER 2013
1 Ford Fiesta - 8574
2 Vauxhall Corsa - 5155
3 Ford Focus - 5069
4 Volkswagen Golf - 4562
5 Vauxhall Astra - 4420
6 Nissan Qashqai - 3579
7 Nissan Juke - 2997
8 Vauxhall Insignia - 2719
9 Fiat 500 - 2672
10 BMW 3-series - 2582
