UK April 2022: Nissan Qashqai signs 2nd ever win in market off -15.8%

First pole position for this generation of Nissan Qashqai. Picture autoexpress.co.uk

According to data by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), 119,167 new cars hit UK roads in April, an accelerating fall of -15.8%, leading to a year-to-date down -5.4% to 536,727. The main culprit this month is large fleet sales down -33.3% to 51,505 and 43,2% share vs. 54.6% a year ago as manufacturers prioritise more profitable private sales. Indeed private registrations are actually up year-on-year this month at +4.8% to 64,886 and 54.4% share vs. 43.7% in April 2021. Small business sales do even better at +15.4% to 2,776 units and 2.3% share vs. 1.7% a year ago. Year-to-date, private sales also defy the declining market with a 17.8% increase to 292,206 and 54.4% share vs. 43.8% in April 2021 whereas fleet sales drop a steep -25% to 231,551 and 43.1% share vs. 54.5%. Business sales are up 28.7% to 12,970 and 2.4% share vs. 1.8% a year ago.

In terms of alimentation, petrol sales fall -23.2% to 54,633 units and 45.8% share vs. 50,3% in April 2021, diesel implodes -52% to 6,725 and 5.6% share vs. 9.9%, MHEV edges down -5.2% to 24,510 and 20.6% share vs. 18.3% and PHEV is in great difficulty at -32.8% to 6,449 and 5.4% share vs. 6.8%. In contrast HEV is up 18.3% to 13,951 and 11.7% share vs. 8.3% last year and BEV up 40.9% to 12,899 and 10.8% share vs. 6.5%. Year-to-date, petrol is down -17.1% to 232,402 and 43.3% share vs. 49.4% in April 2021, diesel freefalls -51.4% to 30,411 and 5.7% share vs. 11%, MHEV edges down -4.8% to 98,577 and  18.4% share vs. 18.2% a year ago. PHEV sales are stable at 36,210 and 6.7% share vs. 6.4% and BEV sales surge 88.3% to 77,064 and double their market share year-on-year at 14.4% vs. 7.4%.

Source: SMMT

In the brands ranking, Ford (-22.4%) repeats at #1 after falling to #10 last December and enduring a steep year-on-year fall. Audi (-11.6%) climbs two spots on March to #2 only 200 sales off Ford, while Kia (+0.8%) is strong year-on-year but drops one rank on last month to #3. The South Korean brand loses its YTD pole position to Ford this month. BMW (-14.5%) is up two ranks to #4 ahead of the Full Year 2021 leader Volkswagen (-45.1%) and Mercedes (-24.5%) both in freefall. Hyundai (+64.7%) lodges by far the best performance in the Top 10 with Nissan (+14.6%) also up by double-digits at #10. Below, Dacia (+89.7%), Cupra (+81.8%), Fiat (+40.2%), Poletar (+28.6%), Mini (+28.3%), Honda (+28.2%) and MG (+26.5%) all shine in the remainder of the Top 30.

Model-wise, in an increasingly volatile environment, we have a 7th different leader in as many months. The Nissan Qashqai (+81.7%) is lifted by the new generation to the nameplate’s second ever pole position after September 2017. The Ford Puma (+9.3%) follows and now also ranks #2 year-to-date. The Mini Hatch rounds out the podium with 2.6% share, distancing the Vauxhall Corsa (-24.3%) holding onto the YTD top spot. The Kia Sportage (-6.3%) ranks #5 but falls to #4 YTD while at #6 the Peugeot 208 scores its first UK Top 10 ranking in almost 8 years: since September 2014 and breaks its ranking record (previous best #7 in January 2013). The Audi A3 (-17.8%) and VW Polo (-17.1%) make a comeback inside the Top 10 at #8 and #9 respectively while the Ford Kuga (-23.2%) and Mercedes A-Class return to the YTD Top 10.

Previous month: UK March 2022: Tesla Model Y and Model 3 top market down -14.3%

One year ago: UK April 2021: Toyota (+30.1%), Peugeot (+19.1%) shine in market down -12.1% on two years ago

Full April 2022 Top 40 All-brands and Top 10 models below.