Statistics published by the Society if Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed that the number of new UK car registrations has risen sharply when compared to the previous year.
Rise from 2017
The study compared car registrations from August 2017 and found that whilst there were 76,433 new sales in August last year, the stats for August 2018 show an evidential increase of 23.1% with 94,094 new registrations.
However, whilst August has been a popular month, the figures still show a decline in overall car registrations in the past 12 months. From August 2017 to August 2018 there were 1,571,986 new car registrations compared to the previous year’s figure of 1,640,241, leading to a decline of 4.2%.
Decline in Diesel
Continuing the trend from last year, the sale of diesel vehicles has once again declined with 27,986 new registrations compared to August 2017’s total of 30,309. This adds to the yearly figures, which show a significant drop of 28.7% in diesel car sales since 2017. This seems set to continue, with some car manufacturers now ending diesel car production in favour of petrol, hybrid and electric vehicles.
Whilst the figures for August show a rapid decline in diesel sales, new registrations for petrol and alternative fuelled vehicles (AFV’s) rose once again. Compared to the monthly figures from August 2017, the sale of petrol vehicles rose by 39.1% whilst AFV sales increased by a massive 88.7%.
With these figures, those looking for motor trade insurance should ensure that their details are up to date, with sites such as quotemetoday.co.uk/motor-trade-insurance able to find cover for all types of vehicles.
Popular Cars
The figures also showed an insight into the most popular cars for the month, with the Ford Fiesta coming out on top with 4,552 new registrations. The Volkswagen Golf was next, selling 4,180, whilst the Volkswagen Polo sold 3,207 for the month. The Ford Kuga and BMW 3 Series made up the fourth and fifth spots with 1,902 and 1,848 sales respectively.
Despite the popular choices for August, the top five cars for the past 12 months look a little different. The Fiesta and Golf still come out in first and second place, but the Nissan Quashqai comes third with the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Corsa taking the final two places.