New car sales close to 100,000 as VW returns to top spot

New car sales reached 99,740 for the year to the end of May, up 23.3 per cent on the same five-month period last year. However new registrations in May were 6,532, down from 6,919 in the same month last year.

Volkswagen is back on top as the best -selling brand for the first time since this year. The brand remains caught up in its global emissions scandal, where it has admitted fitting cheat devices to falsify offical tests. It was the best selling brand in May with 933 registrations, bringing its total so far this year to 10,742. Toyota is currently in a close second place with 10,494, followed by Hyundai with 10,300. Ford recorded sales of 9,908 for the five months to May, with Nissan in fifth place with 8,317.

Citroen remains the only main brand on the market to record a drop in sales this year, down 21.5 per cent on its sales figures up to May 2015.

The best-selling car remains the Hyundai Tucson crossover with 5,069, significantly ahead of the VW Golf with 3,623 and the Ford Focus with 3,289.

At the premium end of the market Audi remains in the lead wit 4,062 so far this year, ahead of BMW with 3,580 and Mercedes-Benz with 2,545.

As the tourist season takes off, new cars registered for the hire-drive market plays a significant part of the new car market, with 13,801 registrations so far this year, up 13 per cent on last year. These hire drives can represent a significant portion of sales for some brands. For example, rentals are 28 per cent of the Seat registrations so far this year, and 26 per cent of registrations for both Renault and Citroen. For Volkswagen, Nissan and Opel they make up 21 per cent of their respective total registrations.

Diesel remains the engien of choice for buyers with 70.5 per cent of sales, ahead of petrol with 27.5 per cent of the market. Electric cars sales continue to fall with 283 registrations for the year compared to 310 up to the end of May last year. However petrol-electric hybrids and plug-in hybrids are recording sales growth.