Vauxhall continues Scottish lead 04 | 03 | 2016
SCOTTISH CAR DEALERS saw a 1.26% growth in new car registrations in February, compared to 2015, with 5848 units sold, compared 5775 in the corresponding month last year, according to figures released today by the Scottish Motor Trade Association. Vauxhall again was the top performer in Scotland.
Significantly, 64.02% of the total monthly sales were attributed to private buyers, with the remainder split between fleet and business.
The Vauxhall Corsa continues to the biggest-selling model in Scotland, with 416 units sold in February, 146 units ahead of the second-placed Ford Fiesta.
Behind the top two, Vauxhall filled two of the next three slots, with the Astra (217) and Mokka (168) taking third and fifth places, sandwiching the VW Polo (176) in fourth.
The top 10 was completed by the Kia Sportage (146), VW Golf (124), Ford Focus (114), Fiat 500 (108) and Hyundai Tucson (101.
Vauxhall has further strengthened its position in Scotland over the opening two months of 2016, now filling the top three slots.
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Corsa (1170) leads, ahead of the second-placed Mokka (666) and Astra (664), with the Ford Fiesta (655) fourth, ahead of fifth-placed VW Polo (472).
The top 10 year-to-date figures are completed by the Fiat 500 (421), Ford Focus (338), VW Golf (335), Vauxhall Viva (318) and Audi A3 (294).
Those figures mean Vauxhall (3354) already leads second-placed Ford (2054) by 1300 units at the end of February. Twelve months ago at the end of February 2015, Ford topped the sales charts with 2141, compared to Vauxhall's 2094.
Significantly for VW, the opening two months of 2016 has seen the brand emerge from the fallout from he emissions scandal to hold third place (1283), ahead of Audi (1130) and Mercedes (787).
Again, the top 10 is rounded off by Fiat (704), Hyundai (697), Kia (678), Peugeot (649) and Mazda (646).
Despite February traditionally being one of the quietest months of the year, eight of Scotland's nine regions witnessed sales increases in February, compared to the corresponding month in '15.
Interestingly, only Strathclyde — which accounts for the biggest sales in Scotland — was the only region to show a drop, down 11.99% fro, 3102 in '15, to 2730 last month.
The biggest increase was experienced in Dumfries & Galloway which saw a 34.81% growth from 135 last February, to 182 units last month.
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"February is always one of the year's quieter months, as consumers and companies alike hold off for the new registration plate release on March 1," Sandy Burgess, Chief Executive of the SMTA, said.
"Despite this, February has produced a fantastic result with growth of 1.26% on 2015. This maintains the year to date number at 1.73%.
"We accept the rest of the UK is showing stronger year-on-year numbers, but that is now something of a trend, not necessarily representative of additional sales.
"The most significant result within these numbers is that Scotland experienced a spectacular 64.02% of the total being attributed to private buyers. A real indicator of consumer confidence.
"It's encouraging to note the movement towards private registrations is being mirrored across the UK, providing further confirmation of the appetite the UK motorists have for the latest models and the success of the outstanding finance packages available in the showrooms.
"Speaking to a number of our dealers in Scotland, they have all confirmed a strong start to the month and are optimistic for the whole month numbers holding up with last year's outstanding result."
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Jim McGill