UK February 2019: Suzuki (+77.2%), VW (+13.1%) shine, Ford Ecosport breaks into Top 10, sales up 1.4%

The Ford Ecosport scores its first ever Top 10 finish in the UK.

February is traditionally the slowest month of the year in the UK when buyers await the March licence plate. 2019 sales encouragingly edge up 1.4% to 81.969 units, but the year-to-date volume remains in negative, just, at -0.6% to 242.982 sales. The February result is boosted by private sales up 4.3% to 36.799 and 44.9% share vs. 43.6% a year ago just as fleet deliveries drop 1.3% to 43.977 and 53.7% share vs. 55.2% and business ales gain 23.4% to 1.193 and 1.5% share. Year-to-date, private sales are up 3.7% to 108.502 and 44.7% share vs. 42.8%, fleet sales down 2.8% to 130.404 and 53.7% vs. 54.9% and business sales down 27.2% to 4.076 and 1.7%. Diesel registrations continue their descent at -14.3% to 24.284 and 29.6% vs. 35% in February 2018 whereas petrol sales gain 8.3% to 53.164 and 64.9% vs. 60.8% and alternatively fuelled vehicles are up for the 22nd consecutive month at +34% to 4.521 and 5.5% share vs. 4.2% a year ago. The year-to-date situation is similar with diesel sales down 18.3% to 71.107 and 29.3% share vs. 35.6%, petrol up 7.6% to 156.340 and 64.3% vs. 59.4% and AFV up 28.5% to 15.535 and 6.4% vs. 4.9%.

UK February sales 2003-2019. Source SMMT

Ford (-13.7%) pays for a particularly high February 2018 score but manages to stay #1 at 12.7% share, well ahead of #2 Volkswagen (+13.1%) despite the German carmaker returning one of only two double-digit gains in the Top 15. BMW (+1.9%), Mercedes (stable) and Audi (-16.8%) all push Vauxhall (+0.9%) down to #6 while Kia (+6.7%), Peugeot (+6.7%) and Skoda (+4.1%) all step up. But the most impressive brand in the Top 10 is without contest Suzuki, up a stunning 77.2% year-on-year and 10 spots on January to land at #10, the brand’s second Top 10 appearance in the UK in the past 7 months (it ranked #7 last August). Below, MG (+140.9%), Volvo (+48.3%), Lexus (+45.6%), Renault (+46.5%), Mitsubishi (+34.7%), Jaguar (+34.3%), Mazda (+25.9%) and Subaru (+19.4%) stand out whereas Infiniti (-72.9%), DS (-64.2%), Porsche (-51.5%), Alfa Romeo (-38.4%) and Fiat (-26.9%) all sink.

Suzuki sales soar 77.2% year-on-year in February in the UK.

Model-wise, the Ford Fiesta (-34.6%) continues to implode but remains at #1 ahead of the Ford Focus (+23.6%) in excellent shape. The VW Golf (-17.7%) is in difficulty but climbs back onto the podium both this month and YTD, with the Mercedes A-Class (+23.2%) once again extremely strong and scoring a 6th consecutive UK Top 5 finish. Below the VW Polo solid at #5, the Nissan Qashqai (+38.7%) posts an impressive improvement but is down 3 spots on February, while the Ford Kuga (-9.7%) reenters the monthly Top 10. At #9, the Ford Ecosport signs its very first Top 10 finish in the UK while its the 4th ever appearance of the VW Tiguan (#10) after June 2018 (#9), July 2018 (#9) and October 2018 (#4).

Previous month: Ford places Fiesta and Focus on top, Toyota Yaris breaks ranking record

One year ago: UK February 2018: Ford ignores surrounding gloom at +22%, Fiesta and Kuga up

Full February 2019 Top 40 brands and Top 10 models below.