Surge in Scots new car sales 05 | 02 | 2016
SCOTLAND’S NEW CAR market got off to a positive start in January, with registrations climbing 2.0% compared with January 2015 to 12,778 units. This compared favourably with the rest of the UK enjoying a similar positive result of plus 3% on 2015.
The surge in sales was driven by private and business buyers, with demand for new cars up by 2.85% to 6,313 and a stunning increase of 91.28% to 1,668 units respectively, while the fleet sector declined by 13% to 872 units. Private car buyers accounted for a 49.41% market share of Scots new car sales.
Vauxhall continued its domination of the new registrations in Scotland, accounting for 2250 sales, a 17.61% market share. Ford held second place (1289/10.09%), with Volkswagen third (829/6.49%), followed by Audi (789/6.17%) and Mercedes (581/4.55%).
The top 10 was completed by Mazda (510/3.99%), Fiat (508/3.98%), Hyundai (502/3.93%), Dacia (483/3.78%) and Nissan (457/3.58%).
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Vauxhall also filled the top three model sales, with Corsa topping the charts with 754 sales. followed by the Mokka (498) and Astra(447). With the Ford Fiesta fourth with 385 sales, the top five was completed by the Fiat 500 (313).
The VW polo (296), Dacia Sandero (228), Vauxhall Viva (225), Ford Focus (224) and Nissan Qashqai (215) completed the top 10.
The biggest growth was experienced in Lothian with registrations up 11.61% whilst the largest reduction was in Tayside with registrations down by 15.34% on 2015.
“Scotland has enjoyed a strong start to 2016 with January’s registration performance placing the new car sector on a solid footing for the start of the year," Sandy Burgess, SMTA chief executive said.
"If we are able to enjoy a continued period of strong consumer and business confidence, we would expect to experience an outcome broadly similar to 2015 which was, of course, a fantastic year.”
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Jim McGill