• New car market climbed 26.4% in February to 68,686 units.

• Private buyers lead growth with business demand also strengthening.

• Scrappage scheme accounted for 19.6% of the February new car market.

• Government urged to defer new car VED rise and boost business confidence post-scrappage.

“Scrappage has generated eight consecutive months of growth in the new car market and we expect its benefits to stretch beyond the scheme’s closure later this month,” said SMMT chief executive, Paul Everitt.

“Industry continues to face challenging market conditions, but positive trends in the fleet and business sectors suggest that negative impacts can be minimised. Strengthening business and consumer confidence remains industry’s priority. A clear and consistent approach to CO2 based taxation and improved access to affordable credit are essential elements in sustaining recovery in the new car market.”

• The new car market rose for an eighth successive month in February, with the market up 26.4%. Between 1999-2009 February typically accounted for 3.3% of the annual market, ahead of the March plate change peak. The 2010 February market was above expectations, just 1.3% below 2008’s tally, but still 12.2% off the 1999-2009 average.

• March 2009 was particularly weak, down 30.5% to 313,912 units. 2010 is expected to recover slightly, with volumes expected to push above 360,000 units for the new ‘10’ plate. Over the past decade, March has been the strongest month for new car registrations, accounting for 17.8% of annual registrations.

• Much of the March recovery will be attributable to scrappage and the scheme accounted for 19.6% of the market in February. Final orders through the scheme must be made by the end of March, or sooner if funds run out. The scheme’s impact will diminish during Q2 with market decline expected in the second half of 2010.

• New car demand will be building up, after a sustained period of hold-off, but with economic recovery still fragile and uncertainty over the impacts of the Budget in March and a general election in Spring, the outlook for registrations in 2010 is subdued and cautious, with an expected decline of almost 10% to 1.82 million units.

• All sales types reported growth in February, but this remains focused on the SIS-boosted private sector. Likewise, demand for small cars continues to rise strongly. Alternatively-fuelled cars doubled their market share to 1.0% in February.

March 2010

The attached tables show the registration figures for Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands in detail. Top performers by range and UK penetration figures are also listed. Providing SMMT is acknowledged as the source of this information, the figures may be quoted.

Substantial reproduction needs specific approval by SMMT.

March 2010 new car registration figures will be released at 9:00 am, 8 April 2010

Scrappage

Data as supplied by 3 March 2010
Data is provisional and sourced direct from participants
Data shown is vehicles newly registered, identified by participants as going through the scrappage scheme
This is different to orders and claims data. Orders are reported to BIS each week, when an order is placed.
Claims are reported to BIS once all the necessary detail to confirm eligibility is in order
BIS – Department for Business Innovation and Skills

• Includes Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Fiat

Change in monthly new car registrations by sales type, March 2009 to date