Car registrations fall again

New car registrations fell for the fifth month in a row in November, but car sales are still expected to finish 2% higher for 2010 compared with 2009.

Sales figures for November were down by 11.5% compared with the same period last year. However, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) says that 2009's figures were inflated because of the scrappage scheme, and that the current figures were better than expected.

A total of 139,875 cars were registered last month, with the Ford Fiesta being the top-selling model.

'New car registrations fell by less than expected in November, with demand from the fleet sector helping to offset the market rebalancing following the end of the Scrappage Incentive Scheme,' said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.

'Year-end volumes are expected to be more than 2.03 million cars, 2% up from last year, but next year will continue to be challenging as consumer spending tightens and the Governments austerity measures take effect.'

The SMMT expects total sales to fall by 5% in 2011.

Top 10 best-sellers
Position
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10November sales
Ford Fiesta
Ford Focus
Volkswagen Golf
Vauxhall Astra
Vauxhall Insignia
BMW 3 Series
Vauxhall Corsa
Volkswagen Polo
Peugeot 207
Nissan QashqaiRegistered
6488
5537
5220
4700
3915
3890
3684
3421
3086
2555Year-to-date
Ford Fiesta
Vauxhall Astra
Ford Focus
Vauxhall Corsa
Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Polo
Peugeot 207
BMW 3 Series
Mini
Nissan QashqaiRegistered
98,453
75,276
73,973
72,654
54,849
41,793
40,056
39,543
37,647
36,207