The UK car registration figures continue to rise - albeit at a slower rate. 2016 has been a very successful year for new car registration and SMMT figures show May has continued that theme with a rise of 2.5% on 2015.
203,585 new cars were registered in this period with the majority (174,897) coming from England, which made the biggest increase (2.77%) out of the four nations. Scotland had the next biggest increase of 2.39% with 16,748 and Wales had a slight increase of 0.67% with 6,666 new cars registered. Northern Ireland actually had a small decrease of -0.95% with 4,566 new cars registered compared to 4,610 in 2015.
The best selling car remains to be the Ford Fiesta which has managed 8,236 registrations in May and continues to dominate the year-to-date table with 52,476. Its bigger brother, the Ford Focus sits in third in both tables with 5,664 sold in May and 31,882 overall.
The Volkswagen Golf takes second place in the month of May but it's the Vauxhall Corsa that is second year-to-date. The UK has seen 1,164,870 new cars registered so far in 2016- 4.1% more than the same point in 2015. The growth is starting to ease although it's still moving in the right direction.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said, “The new car market in May remained high with compelling offers available on the latest vehicles, but the low growth is further evidence of the market cooling in the face of concerns around economic and political stability. Whether this is the result of some buyers holding off until the current uncertainty is resolved or a sign of a more stable market for new cars remains to be seen.”