Volkswagen UK sold almost 20% fewer cars in November compared with the same month in 2014, according to the latest new car registration figures issued by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Volkswagen registered 12,958 cars last month, compared with 16,196 cars in November 2014, a fall of 19.99%. The Volkswagen Golf fell from the UK’s third most registered car to fourth for the month and the Volkswagen Polo fell out of the top ten altogether.
Sister brands Audi, Seat and Skoda also experienced falls of 4.41%, 23.83% and 10.98% respectively compared with November 2014.
Despite the one-month result, Volkswagen’s new car registrations for the whole of the year to date are up on last year by 4.50%. Audi is up by 4.37%, but Seat has dropped by 8.16% and Skoda by 1.40%.
A spokesman for Volkswagen said the company didn’t focus on vagaries of monthly fluctuations but instead preferred to look at the overall yearly picture and the company expects to be up on 2014 at the year’s end. Notably, VW enjoyed a particularly successful sales month in November 2014, taking a 9.4% market share against a more typical 8.7%.
“The gap is not a true representation of our overall sales trend,” said the spokesman. “These ‘spikes’ in volume manufacturer results can be explained by, for example, delivery schedules of major customers and suchlike.”
Indeed, Volkswagen wasn’t the only brand to experience fluctuations in the month-on-month figures, with Fiat down by 20.93% and Citroen registering a 28.84% decline over November 2014. The latter, however, is down to the fact that DS has now been pared off as a separate brand and its sales are counted separately, whereas in 2014 they were lumped in with Citroën’s.
In terms of the overall market, new car registrations increased in November, bouncing back from a decline in October that was the first experienced by the market in 44 months.
The 178,876 cars registered in November represented an increase of 3.8% over November 2014. The overall market for the first 11 months of the year has increased with 2,453,426 new cars registered compared with 2,310,237 in 2014.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “November’s figures come as a reminder of the strength of the UK car market, as low interest rates and competitive finance deals continue to attract consumers to new car ownership.
“We have been expecting a levelling-off in demand for some time now – a development that is being realised following an unprecedented three-and-a-half years of non-stop growth.”
The UK’s most-registered new cars in November 2015
1 - Ford Fiesta 7826 cars registered
2 - Vauxhall Corsa 7267
3 - Ford Focus 4868
4 - Volkswagen Golf 4336
5 - Vauxhall Mokka 3928
6 - Mini 3464
7 - Nissan Qashqai 3306
8 - Vauxhall Insignia 3197
9 - Audi A3 3190
10 - Vauxhall Astra 3141
