UK September 2016: Fleet sales edge market up 1.6% despite Brexit

Audi A3 sales are up 34% in September, earning it a spot in the YTD Top 10.

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

New bi-annual license plates traditionally make September one of the two largest months of the year with March for sales, and despite the recent Brexit vote sinking the pound and prompting some manufacturers to raise their prices, 2016 marks a new September volume record, inching past last year’s all-time high by 1.6% to 469.696 units. This means the year-to-date tally is still evolving at all-time record heights, up 2.6% on the same period a year ago to 2.150.495. As it was already the case in August, fleet sales are doing all the work though this month: up 7% to 222.844 units while private sales are down 2% to 223.844 and business sales down 15% to 23.008. Year-to-date, fleet sales are up 5% to 1.082.718, private sales up just 0.4% to 983.123 and business sales down 6% to 84.654.

September new car registrations – 2000 to 2016. Source: SMMT

Ford holds onto the lead of the brands ranking but sees its market share thaw to 10.4% due do sales down 11% to 49.078. Vauxhall (-5%) comes in second at 8.9% and Volkswagen reclaims the third spot it holds year-to-date in spite of volumes down 14% after being outsold for the first time in history by stablemate Audi in August. VW is not out of the woods yet though at 33.722 sales it barely edges past BMW at 32.595 (+10%), Mercedes at 31.988 (+16%) and Audi at 31.113 (+9%). Long term trends are pushing for at least one of the three premium Germans to overtake VW consistently over the next couple of years. Renault (+14%) and Hyundai (+10%) are the other double-digit gainers in the Top 10 brands in September.

The Mercedes C-Class is among UK’s Top 10 best-sellers for the 5th time in the past 6 months. 

Below, notice Land Rover up a whopping 49% to #13 and 14.629 sales, Mini up 18%, Jaguar up 33%, Dacia up 18%, Lexus up 16%, Jeep up 19%, Smart up 30%, MG up 97% now that the GS SUV is available, Bentley up 111%, Infiniti up 142% and Lotus up 114%. In the models ranking, the Ford Fiesta retains the title of best-selling nameplate in the country despite deliveries down a harsh 13% to 19.769, but the entire Top 4 loses volume year-on-year in September: the Vauxhall Corsa (-7%), VW Golf (-19%) and Ford Focus (-23%). The Nissan Qashqai gains 5% to 10.619 units in 5th place ahead of the VW Polo (-11%). Excellent performances of the Vauxhall Astra (+20%), Audi A3 (+34%) now back into the YTD Top 10 and Mercedes C-Class (+23%), lodging a 5th Top 10 ranking in the past 6 months at #10..

Previous month: UK August 2016: Audi outsells Volkswagen for the first time

One year ago: UK September 2015: 43rd month up to all-time record September

Full September 2016 Top 10 models and Top 40 brands below.