Diesel slump fuels 6.3% UK car sales fall 05 | 02 | 2018
SALES OF NEW cars in the UK fell by 6.3% in January, with sales of diesel-engined cars plummeting by 25.6%. The slump marks the lowest January total, 163,615 cars sold, since 2014, and prompted the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) to urge the government to drive fleet drivers back into diesel cars.
Sales of petrol cars rose 8.5%, with alternatively fuelled vehicles increasing by 23.9%, but both of these increases failed to offset the ongoing fall in diesel registrations.
“The ongoing and substantial decline in new diesel car registrations is concerning,” Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said, “particularly since the evidence indicates consumers and businesses are not switching into alternative technologies, but keeping their older cars running.
“Given fleet renewal is the fastest way to improve air quality and reduce CO2, we need government policy to encourage take up of the latest advanced low emission diesels as, for many drivers, they remain the right choice economically and environmentally.”
Demand fell across the board, with registrations by business, private and fleet buyers down -29.7%, -9.5% and -1.8% respectively.
Meanwhile, continuing the trend of recent months, dual purpose cars (SUVs) were the only vehicle segment to see growth, with demand up 6.6% to account for a fifth (20.2%) of all new car registrations. Demand in all other segments fell, with the biggest declines affecting the mini, MPV and executive segments.
The Ford Fiesta was January’s biggest selling car, registering almost twice the number of registrations as the second-placed Volkswagen Golf. The Ford Focus was third.
Latest SMMT figures illustrate the importance of diesel cars and engines to the UK economy. Last year, more than two in five of the cars leaving British production lines were diesels, while manufacturers also produced more than 1 million engines – directly supporting 3350 jobs and, combined with the UK’s petrol engine output, delivering £8.5 billion to the economy.
Related: UK new car registrations fall 5.7% in 2017
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Jim McGill
All figures supplied by SMMT