UK October 2015: First year-on-year decline in record 43 months

First UK Top 10 ranking in almost two years for the BMW 1 Series.

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

It had to happen at some stage: at -1% and 177.664 registrations, October 2015 marks the first year-on-year decline for the UK new car market after a record 43 consecutive months of growth, the longest ever period of undisrupted year-on-year gains since car sales have been compiled in the UK. The year-to-date volume is still 6% above the same period last year and at an all-time high of 2.274.550. If diesel sales are down 2% vs. -1% for gasoline cars, it is too early to tell whether this is the result of the Volkswagen Dieselgate. The German carmaker, although down 10% to 7.9% share this month, follows roughly the same pattern as market leader Ford (-9%) and behaves much better than Vauxhall, down 16%.

No Dieselgate effect? The VW Golf outsells the Ford Focus to leads its segment in October.

The winner of the month is BMW up a fantastic 32% to 13.938 sales – only 32 units below VW – and placing two nameplates inside the UK Top 10 for the first time since December 2013: the 1 Series at #9 and the 3 Series at #10. Audi is up 2% to 13.182 deliveries and 7.4% share vs. 6.4% year-to-date. Notice also Mercedes up 14%, Land Rover up 41% to #12 vs. #19 year-to-date, Mazda up 25%, Jaguar up 71%, Jeep up 113% and Smart up 302%.

The Audi A3 ranks 6th in the UK in October.

The Ford Fiesta remains UK’s favourite nameplate despite sales down 6% above the Vauxhall Corsa (-18%), VW Golf (-11%) and Ford Focus (-31%): an intense fragmentation of the top of the ranking with the Top 4 best-sellers only accounting for 13.2% of the UK market vs. 15.7% a year ago. The Audi A3 jumps back up 8 spots on September to a stunning 6th position, the VW Polo is down a painful 19% at #7 and the Nissan Juke is back inside the Top 10 at #8 even though its volume is 27% below October 2014.

Previous post: UK 1st half 2015: Now with Top 360 All-models ranking (BSCB exclusive)

Previous month (first update): UK September 2015: 43rd month up to all-time record September

Previous month (2nd update): UK September 2015: Now with Top 140 models (BSCB exclusive)

One year ago: UK October 2014: Nissan Juke smashes ranking record at #5

Full October 2015 Top 40 brands and Top 10 models below.