United Kingdom new vehicle sales hit all-time high in 2015

Full-year vehicle sales rose 6.3% to 2.63 million in 2015, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said, confirming what two sources told Reuters yesterday.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “Consumer confidence is at is highest level since the recession and drivers have decided now is the time to make a significant spending decision”.

VW’s Skoda and Audi both saw registration figures rise last month but Seat fell 46 percent, ending the year down 11 percent. And it has been fuelled by the van sector, where demand has been increased by an ongoing boom in online shopping requiring more delivery vehicles, and attractive finance deals encouraging operators to renew their vehicles. The previous record was set in 2003, when sales totaled 2.58 million.

“The outlook remains positive with every reason to expect the market to hold broadly steady in 2016”, he said. But it was only a temporary dip with a 3.8% rise in November, while 8% growth in December is expected to be confirmed today.

Sales of Volkswagen-branded cars (VOWG_p.DE), which fell 10 percent in October and 20 percent November in the aftermath of the diesel emissions cheating scandal, recovered somewhat in December recording a fall of just 0.4 percent.

The Ford Fiesta topped the 2015 best-sellers list, with 133,434 registrations, followed by the Vauxhall Corsa – some 41,000 vehicles behind on 92,077 sales – and the Ford Focus in third. Appetite in the private sector, meanwhile, was also robust, up 2.5%. Plug-in hybrids experienced phenomenal growth, with volumes more than doubling, while pure electric vehicles saw an uplift of around 50 per cent.

Strong van sales drove the United Kingdom commercial vehicle market to an all-time high in 2015.

John Leech, head of automotive at accountancy firm KPMG, said the industry’s record sales figures were a result of consumer confidence being “finally back to pre-financial crisis levels”, the strength of the pound leading to lower prices and the availability of cheap credit.