Best January in 11 Years for New Car Sales

Published Date: 5th Feb 2016

Best January since 2005 for new car market as registrations increase 2.9% to 169,678 units.

Private registrations fuel growth, up 8.2% to 73,061 vehicles – the highest level since 2004.

6,075 alternatively-fuelled vehicles registered, up 32.1% to take a record 3.6% market share.

The UK’s new car market got off to a positive start in January, with registrations climbing 2.9% compared with the same month in 2015 to reach an 11-year high of 169,678 units. January 2005 saw 181,474 new cars registered.

Top 10 Best Selling New Cars of 2016

Private and business buyers drove this growth with demand for new cars up by 8.2% to 73,061 and 5.0% to 6,716 units respectively, while the fleet sector declined slightly by 1.1% to 89,901. The month marks the highest number of new cars registered to private buyers in January in 12 years.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, announced, “January’s solid performance puts the new car sector in a good position to start the year. Providing consumer confidence remains strong, we expect a more stable 12 months ahead, broadly similar to 2015 which was, of course, a record year.”