2011 registrations fall but better expectations

09 Jan 2012 - David Hort

2011 registrations fall but better expectations

New car registrations fell by 3.77 per cent in December when compared to figures from 2010.

With just 118,768 registrations in the last month of the year – traditionally a slow month in the industry – new car sales were down by almost 5,000 when compared to the same period from 2010.

For the year as whole, 1,930,513 new cars were registered in the UK signalling a downturn in sales by 4.42 per cent when compared to the previous 12 months.

Despite being down on 2010 figures, the final new car registration total is ahead of predictions made by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) who expected sales to reach a maximum of 1.92 million.

“Weak economic growth will make trading conditions tough in 2012, but record numbers of new and updated models, significantly improved fuel efficiency and exciting new technologies will help to encourage consumers into showrooms," said Paul Everitt, chief executive at SMMT.

Those trends have already begun to take place in the UK, with motorists plumping for more economical and efficient cars. That’s reflected in diesel and alt-fuel cars which took record shares of the market while for the first time ever, diesel cars outsold petrols by almost 50,000 units in the UK – in 2010, petrol engines dominated by more than 135,000 units.

The move towards diesel engines has helped force average CO2 emissions figures down by 4.2 per cent in 2011 to 138.1g/km.

The bestselling car in the UK continues to be the Ford Fiesta after 12 months on top of the sales charts with almost 100,000 unit sales for the year after more than 5,400 unit sales in December helping it cement first place.

In December the Hyundai i10 forced its way into the top ten bestsellers list according to SMMT figures with the city car selling 2,411 units for the month. That wasn’t enough for it to force its way into the top ten bestsellers for 2011 as a whole with the usual suspects occupying every spot.

Compared to the final standings in 2010, only the Peugeot 207 has failed to return to the top ten, being replaced by the Vauxhall Insignia which has forced its way into sixth place in 2011.