Currently reading: Industry targets 2.25m new car registrations in 2013
Continued growth for 20 months has led the SMMT to raise its forecast for new car registrations in 2013

Continued growth in the new car market has forced the industry to revise up its forecast of annual registrations. Twenty months of continued growth led the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders to increase predictions for a full year from 2.22m to 2.25m units.

The SMMT said 157,314 new cars were registered in October, an increase of four per cent over October 2012. The increase saw registrations grow 10.2 per cent to 1,952,238 units.

It said that the growth is mainly driven by the private market. It saw a 4.5 per cent gain in October and a 15.7 per cent increase over the year to date.

Despite the revised forecast, the SMMT expects the market to begin to stabilise, and will grow at around one per cent in 2014 and 2015.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “With October new car registrations up, we have now seen 20 consecutive months of growth.

“These sustained rises have been driven by robust private demand, a trend that has given us the confidence to raise our year-end forecast to 2.25 million units – 10 per cent ahead of last year. Looking ahead, we anticipate more moderate growth as the market stabilises.”

The Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Focus continue to occupy the top three positions, but strong performances from both the Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Juke pushed the BMW 1-series out of the top 10, while the 3-series drops to 10th. 

UK BEST-SELLERS, OCTOBER 2013

Ford Fiesta - 8574

Vauxhall Corsa - 5155

Ford Focus - 5069

Volkswagen Golf - 4562

Vauxhall Astra - 4420

Nissan Qashqai - 3579

Nissan Juke - 2997

8 Vauxhall Insignia - 2719

Fiat 500 - 2672

10 BMW 3-series - 2582

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Motormouths 6 November 2013

I'd trust SMMT over Car

I'd trust SMMT over Car Magazine.
Smilerforce 7 November 2013

Motormouths wrote: I'd trust

Motormouths wrote:
I'd trust SMMT over Car Magazine.
Ditto! On the subject of congestion we are not getting a mass increase in population!! Short term it will make little difference to the congestion of our roads. Plus once these cars are traded in for new they will sit in forecourts till they are traded in again (so congestion to forecourts maybe?) If anything it would reduce congestion as newer cars should be more reliable so would reduce breakdowns.
fadyady 6 November 2013

The third Vauxhall

in the UK's 10 best selling cars is Insignia and doubtless it achieves this feat by dipping below the magic 100g/km mark. The Astra however slips behind the resurgent Golf. By the way, there may not be a single Audi in the Top 10 and yet somehow Audi has conjured itself as the 4th best selling brand in UK. How is that?
Motormouths 6 November 2013

Insignia wasn't in top ten for 2012

xxxx wrote:
Vauxhall Insignia was in the overall top 10 last year
The ten best-selling cars of 2012 were: 1. Ford Fiesta (109,265) 2. Vauxhall Corsa (89,434) 3. Ford Focus (83,115) 4. Vauxhall Astra (63,023) 5. Volkswagen Golf (62,021) 6. Nissan Qashqai (45,675) 7. BMW 3-Series (44,521) 8. Volkswagen Polo (41,901) 9. Mercedes-Benz C-Class (37,261) 10. BMW 1-Series (34,488) If you check the above list, I think you'll find that the Insignia WASN'T in the top ten for 2012.
xxxx wrote:
Fleet, well most cars wouldn't get in any top 10 without fleet sales
That goes without saying. All I said was that the Insignia's increase in registrations is likely to be down to the revised diesel engine, which makes the car a much more appealing package to company car drivers and fleets.
xxxx 6 November 2013

details from..

.. Got figures from Car Magazine website "Yet again Ford stole the show and its Fiesta .......... Other top 10 finalists were the VW Golf and Polo, Nissan’s Qashqai and the Vauxhall Insignia"