60-plate boosts September car sales

The 60 registration plate has helped to boost car sales in September, figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed.

A total of 335,246 new cars were registered last month, with the Fiesta leading the sales chart at 19,078 new registrations.

Although the total is 8.9% down on the same period last year, 2009's figures were boosted by the scrappage incentive. Remove the scrappage sales and September 2010's figure was 16.3% up on 2009 and also slightly ahead of 2008's total.

Private sales shrink
However, private sales in September were down 19% compared with the previous year. The SMMT is lobbying the Government to help reverse this fall in sales by asking it to help improve access to finance.

SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said: 'It is important that alongside the Government's austerity measures, the comprehensive spending review signals a strong growth agenda to boost consumer and business confidence.'

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Top 10 best-sellers September 2010
Position
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10Model
Ford Fiesta
Vauxhall Corsa
Vauxhall Astra
Ford Focus
Vauxhall Insignia
Volkswagen Golf
Mini
Peugeot 207
Ford Mondeo
BMW 1 SeriesRegistered
19,078
14,249
12,655
10,100
7250
7228
7187
6918
6075
5896Year-to-date
Ford Fiesta
Vauxhall Astra
Vauxhall Corsa
Ford Focus
Volkswagen Golf
Volkswagen Polo
Peugeot 207
Mini
BMW 3 Series
Nissan QashqaiRegistered
85,941
66,104
65,396
64,548
44,399
36,290
34,798
32,376
31,698
30,477