Axon's Automotive Anorak: 2016 in car sales, we're still hungry for hatches

In 2016, annual UK new car registrations grew for the fifth year in a row to almost 2.7 million units, the British market seeing uplifts in 10 out of the last 12 months, albeit finishing with the month of December down slightly by -1.1 percent – with 178,022 new cars registered in the month.

Buyers were attracted by a range of new car models and very tempting finance deals, pushing registrations up to a record 2,692,786 in 2016 – up 2.3 percent on the previous year, and broadly in line with expert expectations. The UK new car market is one of the largest and most diverse in the world, with some 44+ car brands offering nearly 400 different model types – and 2017 looks set to be another competitive year, with almost 70 important new launches already planned over the next 12 months, ranging from the next-generation Ford Fiesta to the new BMW 5-Series and electric Jaguar i-Pace.

The competitive range of affordable finance was a crucial factor in driving private demand last year, as UK consumers were able to take advantage of low-interest rates and flexible payment options, with prestige car brands and SUVs in particular enjoying great sales growth, often at the expense of the mainstream established car marques and body types.

Diesel and petrol cars continued to be the most popular fuel types for consumers by far with overall market shares at 47.7 percent and 49.0 percent respectively. However, alternatively fueled vehicles (AFVs) experienced a strong uplift in demand, gaining 22.2 percent across the year. Plug-in hybrids and petrol-electric hybrids in particular experienced significant growth, with demand up 41.9 percent and 25.1 percent respectively. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 British motorists chose to go fully electric in 2016 – up 3.3 percent on 2015.

Britain’s Top Ten most popular new cars in 2016 were mostly hatchback models, with six in seven new cars sold being imported from overseas. Time will tell if the post-Brexit market sees us buying quite so many imported new models in the future, dependent on trading tariffs.

For 2016 Britain’s Top Ten best sellers were;

1. Ford Fiesta
2. Vauxhall Corsa
3. Ford Focus
4. Volkswagen Golf
5. Nissan Qashqai
6. Vauxhall Astra
7. Volkswagen Polo
8. Mini
9. Mercedes-Benz C-Class
10. 10. Audi A3

As has been the case for a number of years now, Ford’s acclaimed Fiesta remained British favorite new car, with the second-place Vauxhall Corsa still some way behind Ford’s market leader. Despite its much-publised ‘Dieselgate’ exposure, VW’s Golf and Polo hatchback models both climbed up the UK sales charts, as did the premium Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which now comfortably outsells the once popular ‘mainstream’ reps favorite family saloons, such as the Ford Mondeo and Vauxhall Insignia.

Across Europe as a whole, 2016’s Top Ten best-selling new cars differed slightly to the UK, as follows:

1. Volkswagen Golf
2. Renault Clio
3. Volkswagen Polo
4. Ford Fiesta
5. Opel/Vauxhall Corsa
6. Opel/Vauxhall Astra
7. Peugeot 208
8. Nissan Qashqai
9. Skoda Octavia
10.  Renault Captur

VW’s Golf remained the predicable ‘go to’ hatchback again in Europe, as it has for many years, despite some slowdown in sales and image and residual values for the model dropped in many markets. Unlike the UK though, overall the German car brands didn’t quite dominate the 2016 new cars sales charts in Continental Europe as strongly as they did in the UK, with the traditionally popular French hatches finding many new fans, as did Skoda’s robust Octavia.

Quite how the new market will shape-up in 2017, both in the UK and the turbulent European market, time will tell, but 2016 will certainly be looked back at fondly as a halcyon year for most car makers.