The number of new cars sold in the UK dropped by 15.7 per cent in March – typically the biggest month for the new car market.
Some 474,069 new cars were registered last month, which is a drop-off of more than 88k on the previous March (562,337).
That said, it was still the fourth biggest March ever for the sector and it’s worth remembering that March 2017 marked the busiest month on record for new car registrations.
Much of the decrease has been pinned on plummeting demand for diesel cars, with registrations down by more than a third (37.2 per cent) on last March and 33.3 per cent for the year to date.
Sales of petrol cars remained steady, rising marginally (0.5 per cent), but demand for hybrids and electric cars has shot up this year, with registrations of alternatively fuelled vehicle increasing by 9.8 per cent and 5.7 per cent for March.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders – the group responsible for tracking Britain’s new car registrations, didn’t seem overly concerned by the decrease.
“March’s decline is not unexpected given the huge surge in registrations in the same month last year,” he commented.
“Despite this, the market itself is relatively high with the underlying factors in terms of consumer choice, finance availability and cost of ownership all highly competitive.”
The best-selling car for March and the year so far has been the Ford Fiesta [pictured], followed by the Volkswagen Golf and Nissan Qashqai.