UK new car market reaches record 2.69 million registrations in 2016

“New passenger car registrations reached an annual all-time high in 2016 with a total 2.69 million units registered, 2.3% more than last year, despite an uncertain political and economic landscape”, said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, commenting on the SMMT’s new car registration figures.

New passenger car registrations declined -1.1% in December with 178,022 units. These figures bring the total number of units registered in 2016 to 2,692,786, an increase of 2.3% on last year’s record result. Alternative fuel vehicles rose by 8.0% in December, meaning a growth of 22.2% in 2016.

Robinson continued, “This slowdown was expected towards the end of the year and we believe that the segments of the market that saw an increase in December and have consistently performed well throughout the year, such as alternative fuel vehicles, will continue to drive the growth in the upcoming months.

“The retail automotive industry has showed its resilience in 2016 and proved its key role in the UK economy. As economic and political changes happen in the near future, we hope that economic measures will be put in place to protect consumer confidence and the interests of our industry.

“Although we are aware of the challenges ahead, we are looking forward to seeing what the new year has in store.”