UK March 2014: Market up 18% to 2nd best monthly volume ever

The VW Golf is up 32% in March to a record 13,032 sales.

* See the Top 10 best-selling models and Top 43 brands by clicking on the title! *

The UK new car market continues to astound and for the changeover month to new 14-plates, it delivers the highest sales figure in 10 years and the 2nd strongest monthly volume ever at 464,824 registrations, up 18% year-on-year. According to SMMT, this is the 2nd best score since the UK moved to a twice-yearly plate change in 1999 – and ever – below the 466,954 vehicles sold in March 2004. Keep in mind March is typically the biggest month of the year for registrations, accounting for almost 1/5th of the Full Year total. This marks the 25th consecutive month of year-on-year growth for the UK market, adding up to 688,122 units so far in 2014, up 14%.

Renault Clio

In the brands ranking, Ford (+15%), Vauxhall (+19%), Volkswagen (+17%) and Audi (+13%) all evolve solidly and roughly in line with the market, while BMW and Nissan are a notch above, both up 24% to 5th and 6th place respectively. Mercedes is also strong at #7 (+19%). But the big brand event  this month is the return of Renault under the spotlight: the French manufacturer more than doubles its sales year-on-year at +113% to 13,805 units and ranks 13th vs. 18th over the Full Year 2013. Its year-to-date sales are now up 80% on 2014… Let’s also salute Skoda up 33%, Fiat up 27%, Seat up 38%, Mazda up 41% and Dacia up 201% on March 2013 which was its third month of sales in the country.

Can’t get a better start for the new gen Nissan Qashqai: all-time monthly record at 8,858 sales.

Model-wise, the Ford Fiesta is unflappable in pole position with a record 25,753 sales up 13% year-on-year and beating its previous best of 23,681 units hit in March 2010. It is followed by the Ford Focus at 16,860 units (+9%) and the Vauxhall Corsa stable at 16,231 sales. The VW Golf is up one spot on February to climb to 4th place and with sales up a massive 32% year-on-year to 13,032 it lodges the nameplate’s best ever monthly volume in the country (previous best: 12,724 in March 2007). Unsurprisingly with this month’s strong sales, a few more models beat their all-time monthly volume record inside the Top 10: the Nissan Qashqai is up 5% year-on-year to an all-time high 8,858 units at #6, the Fiat 500 is up to a record 8,136 sales at #8 and the Toyota Yaris up to a best-ever 7,418 units at #10.

Previous month: UK February 2014: Mercedes C-Class up to #7

One year ago: UK March 2013: Ford Fiesta reclaims top spot

Full March 2014 Top 10 models and Top 43 brands Ranking Tables below.