United Kingdom vehicle sales hit September record

Vehicle registrations in the United Kingdom were strong in September, despite the Volkswagen scandal which occurred in mid-month.

According to data released on Tuesday by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), new vehicle sales jumped 8.6% year-on-year in September, with over 462,000 new cars registered last month.

The boom has been put down to a range of competitive deals on the new 65-plate and it is the 43rd consecutive month of growth. It is the first time that the two million cars mark has been passed in September since 2004.

So far this year, the total number of cars registered amounts to 2,096,886, which is 7.1% higher than at the same point last year.

Diesel sales also held up despite the questions facing the wider industry since it was publicly revealed on 18 September that millions of VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda diesel models had engine software to cheat emissions tests.

In total, 237,896 petrol cars were sold in September compared to 212,505 diesel.

Gains were made across all market sectors – private, fleet and business – while petrol, diesel and alternatively fuelled vehicles all saw increased demand.

‘The market reached pre-recession levels a few time ago, and we anticipate a few levelling off in the coming 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 United Kingdom last month, but the SMMT said it was too soon to see effect of the emissions scandal, which broke in the middle of September.

Year to date, CV sales were up 19.2% to 321,302; 37,141 trucks (+35.6%) and 284,161 vans (+17.4%).