Fact: New Car Sales Top 2 Million!

Contrary to all expectations new car sales for the 12-months to February 2010 actually topped the two million barrier – at 2,042, 718. With SMMT reporting 2009 at 1.994 million (down 6.4% on 2008) and projecting 2010 at 1.817 million (down 8.9% on 2009) it’s either a quirk of timings or better than expected sales during recent months that’s driving the statistics upwards, or probably both.

What is clearly evident is the massive impact of the scrappage scheme. Introduced last May, and with just three weeks to go before it’s withdrawn, the scheme has accounted for 20.4% of all sales since its introduction so providing an invaluable fill-up to the industry.

Although, given the probable dire conditions the sector might have faced without scrappage it would seem that SMMT’s Paul Everett comment that he “…expect its benefits to stretch beyond the scheme’s closure later this month…” might be a little hopeful.

Detailed below is a summary of registrations for the period March 2009 to February 2010 (source: SMMT).