UK March 2015: Nissan Qashqai hits record in best month this century

12,210 Nissan Qashqai found a buyer in the UK this month, a record.

* See the Top 10 best-selling models and Top 40 All-brands by clicking on the title *

492,774 new cars were registered in the UK in March, the best month since the twice-yearly number plate changes were introduced in 1999. Nearly half a million cars sold means the March European ranking will be heavily influenced by this market as is the case twice a year. March sales are up 6% year-on-year, the 37th consecutive month of year-on-year gains, bringing the first quarter total to 734,588 units, up 7% on 2014. March fleet sales are up 12% while private sales are up 3%.

UK March sales since 1999

In the brands ranking, the leading trio remains unchanged with Ford on top (+1%) followed by Vauxhall (-3%) and Volkswagen (+7%). Nissan shoots up 3 spots on February and 22% year-on-year to #4 and an astounding 31,026 sales, Mercedes is up 19% to 26,616 units but stays below Audi (29,153) and BMW (26,925), Renault is up 15% to #12, Land Rover up 29% to #13, Mini up 62%, Mazda up 18%, Mitsubishi up 207% and Jeep up 397%.

The Ford Fiesta delivers its largest monthly volume this century.

The Ford Fiesta is the most popular nameplate in the country once again, and with sales up 5% to 27,034 units it even hits its highest monthly volume this century, and potentially the nameplate’s 40 year career-high. This score is also the second highest monthly volume by any nameplate in the UK this century below the 27,750 units sold by the Ford Focus in March 2005. The Vauxhall Corsa is up 22% to 19,391 units thanks to the new model above the Ford Focus down 8% to 15,442.

Jeep Renegade – Jeep UK sales are up 397% year-on-year in March.

In 4th position, the Nissan Qashqai is up a fantastic 38% year-on-year to hit an all-time record sales volume of 12,210, the first time the locally-produced SUV crosses the 10,000 monthly sales mark in the UK. #4 is also its record ranking, also reached last January. Thanks to this very impressive performance, the Qashqai is now #5 year-to-date, only 749 units below the VW Golf down 10% to #5 in March. Excellent performance of the VW Polo up 21% to 10,038 sales, the model’s second 10,000+ month with last September (10,312). The Audi A3 (#8), Mercedes C-Class (#9) and Fiat 500 (#10) are also strong this month.

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Previous month: UK February 2015: VW Golf doubles sales to shoot up to 2nd place

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

Full March 2015 Top 40 All-brands and Top 10 models below.