Strong economy drives new car registrations to a record September
In a sign of rude UK economic health, the number of new cars rolling out onto the country’s roads had its best ever September.
Last month 462,517 new cars were registered, a climb of 8.6 per cent year-on-year, according to the figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) this morning.
Strong business confidence was reflected in a 15.2 per cent climb in fleet sales compared with September 2014 while sales to individuals were up three per cent.
“While the UK economy may currently be going through a softer patch, this is certainly not true of car sales,” said economist Howard Archer from analysts IHS.
But he added sales will likely ease off the gas soon as growth had been strong for 43 consecutive months.
In a slightly unfortunate turn of events, the Volkswagen Golf and the Polo were the fourth and fifth best-selling cars respectively in the UK last month, but the SMMT said it was too soon to see effect of the emissions scandal, which broke in the middle of September.
Sales of diesel cars were up 4.1 per cent.
“It is too early to draw conclusions, but customer demand for diesel remained strong, accounting for one in two cars registered,” said SMMT chief exec Mike Hawes.