New car sales increase in April

New car sales showed an encouraging rise in April, prompting the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) to revise its 2012 sales forecast upwards.

Last month a total of 142,322 new cars were registered, which represents a year-on-year growth of 3.3 per cent.

Encouraged by the growth in April on the back of a strong March, the SMMT has revised its full-year forecast to 1.95 million units. If that target is hit, it would represent a market growth of 0.4 per cent over 2011.

Some of the growth has been bolstered by a recovery in the private market, which grew 14.8 per cent in April and is up 7.3 per cent in the year-to-date.

“We are seeing a steady increase in consumer confidence with growth in private demand, boosted by the arrival of a raft of new products,” said SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt. “SMMT has increased its full year forecast to 1.95 million units, putting the market marginally ahead of 2011, indicating a period of relative stability.”

Contrary to the preceding months, petrol cars increased their share of the market in April. Growth was diverse across the vehicle segments, with the small car, dual-purpose vehicle and excutive/sports car sectors all showing sales increases.

It wasn’t all good news, fleet and business registrations shrunk by 3.4 per cent and 11.2 per cent respectively.

The Ford Fiesta continues to be the best selling car in Britain, for both the month of April as well for the first four months of the year.

Kabeer Mahajan

April 2012’s best sellers

1 Ford Fiesta 8780 cars sold2 Vauxhall Corsa 61843 Ford Focus 54914 Vauxhall Astra 46845 BMW 3 Series 37376 Volkswagen Golf 36007 Volkswagen Polo 35798 Nissan Qashqai 29909 Vauxhall Insignia 275110 Fiat 500 2600