Top 10: UK car sales 2015

2015 was the best year ever for the UK’s new car market. According to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, there were a total of 2,633,503 registrations. That’s an increase of 157,068 compared to 2014.



Just 29,313 of those additional units came from the Private category. Fleet was responsible for most of the growth, which suggests growing business confidence. It could also be a sign of some extra dealer demonstrator and manufacturer pre-registration activity, of course…

Total UK Car Registrations 2015 - By Category
Category	2015	2014	Change	Change %
Private	1,208,812	1,179,499	29,313	2.5%
Fleet	1,317,570	1,178,416	139,154	11.8%
Business	107,121	118,520	-11,399	-9.6%
Total	2,633,503	2,476,435	157,068	6.3%
Fleet + Business	1,424,691	1,296,936	127,755	9.9%

Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen remained the country’s three most popular marques. BMW ended the year in fourth position, reminding us that ‘premium’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘exclusive’.

Additional products such as the 2 Series Gran Tourer

helped to increase BMW's registrations in 2015.

Top 10: Total UK Car Registrations 2015 - By Manufacturer
Position 2015	Manufacturer	Registrations	Market Share	Position 2014
1	Ford	335,267	12.7%	1
2	Vauxhall	269,766	10.2%	2
3	Volkswagen	223,784	8.5%	3
4	BMW	167,391	6.4%	5
5	Audi	166,709	6.3%	4
6	Nissan	153,937	5.9%	6
7	Mercedes-Benz	145,254	5.5%	7
8	Peugeot	104,249	4.0%	8
9	Toyota	98,709	3.8%	9
10	Hyundai	88,117	3.4%	11

Although Volkswagen’s and Audi’s year-on-year deliveries rose, Škoda and Seat both went the other way.



The effects of the infamous diesel emissions scandal (first reported in September) are hard to quantify. However, with the exception of Audi, the group’s volume brands appeared to suffer badly during the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter 2015
Brand	2015	2014	Change	Change %
Volkswagen	41,343	46,166	-4,823	-10.5%
Audi	33,409	32,500	909	2.8%
Škoda	14,548	15,102	-554	-3.7%
Seat	7,134	10,901	-3,767	-34.6%
Total	96,434	104,669	-8,235	-7.9%
Market Total	536,617	518,239	18,378	3.6%

Full Year 2015
Brand	2015	2014	Change	Change %
Volkswagen	223,784	214,828	8,956	4.2%
Audi	166,709	158,987	7,722	4.9%
Škoda	74,692	75,488	-796	-1.1%
Seat	47,654	53,512	-5,858	-11.0%
Total	512,839	502,815	10,024	2.0%
Market Total	2,633,503	2,476,435	157,068	6.3%

Turning to individual model performances, the league table was fairly predictable.



Most of the movements seemed to centre on Vauxhall. Corsa and Mokka climbed into second and tenth places respectively, but the introduction of a new Astra understandably saw the firm’s C-segment contender slip from fifth to seventh spot.

Still some way behind the Fiesta in volume terms, but the Vauxhall

Corsa became the UK's runner-up car. (Image © General Motors.)

The Fiat 500 and Nissan Juke disappeared from the top ten, while the Mini Hatch moved up to ninth. Otherwise, everything was pretty much identical to 2014.

Top 10: Total UK Car Registrations 2015 - By Model
Position	Model	Registrations	Market Share
1	Ford Fiesta	133,434	5.1%
2	Vauxhall Corsa	92,077	3.5%
3	Ford Focus	83,816	3.2%
4	Volkswagen Golf	73,409	2.8%
5	Nissan Qashqai	60,814	2.3%
6	Volkswagen Polo	54,900	2.1%
7	Vauxhall Astra	52,703	2.0%
8	Audi A3	47,653	1.8%
9	Mini Hatch	47,076	1.8%
10	Vauxhall Mokka	45,399	1.7%

Related posts:
Top 10: New cars due in 2016
Top 10: UK car sales 2014

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- Friday, January 08, 2016