Top 10: UK car sales Q1 2019

There were 458,054 new car registrations during the all-important plate-change month of March. That was down 3.4% on 2018’s equivalent figure, with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders citing “political and economic uncertainty and continuing confusion over diesel” as the primary causes of the decline.

For the first quarter as a whole, total industry volume contracted by 2.4% year-on-year. Fewer Fleet and Business sales were primarily responsible, because the Private segment held fairly steady. As expected, the popularity of diesel as a fuel choice continued to fall dramatically.

Cumulative UK Car Registrations Q1 2019 - By Fuel Type
Fuel	2019	2018	Change	Change %
Diesel	191,784	240,646	-48,862	-20.3%
Petrol	468,415	442,237	+26,178	+5.9%
Alternative	40,837	35,606	+5,231	+14.7%
Total	701,036	718,489	-17,453	-2.4%

The Ford Fiesta remained the country’s favourite individual model. However, its market share reduced from 4.1% during 2018 (full year) to 3.3%.

Other notable developments saw the Mercedes-Benz A-Class climb to fifth position, while the Toyota Yaris made a rather surprising ‘top ten’ appearance.

Toyota Yaris

Top 10: Cumulative UK Car Registrations Q1 2019 - By Model
Position	Model	Registrations	Market Share
1	Ford Fiesta	23,474	3.3%
2	Vauxhall Corsa	17,647	2.5%
3	Volkswagen Golf	17,412	2.5%
4	Ford Focus	16,668	2.4%
5	Mercedes-Benz A-Class	16,632	2.4%
6	Nissan Qashqai	16,420	2.3%
7	Volkswagen Polo	13,089	1.9%
8	Mini Hatch	11,969	1.7%
9	Toyota Yaris	11,400	1.6%
10	Ford Kuga	10,805	1.5%

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Top 10: UK car sales 2018