- No reversal in Ford performance
- Vauxhall remains lacklustre in Stellantis stable
- BMW leads growth
- While Tesla is one of the top five droppers
AS the year enters its final quarter, manufacturers are increasingly managing their registrations in order to avoid huge fines for selling too many petrol or diesel cars.
Stellantis is on-record as saying it will be compliant with the ZEV Mandate in each year, including 2024, and will not be paying any fines. To do this it is understood the manufacturer is both managing its supply of ICE vehicles and setting EV sales targets for retailers to hit.
The latest new car registration figures show that for the year-to-date to the end of October, Stellantis is down more than 11,000 units. However, within the OEM, there is a huge difference in performance between brands.
Peugeot and Jeep are both up well over 4,000 cars this year, but the combined rise of more than 9,000 cars has been more than offset by Vauxhall, which is down nearly 17,000 cars in the first 10 months of 2024. More than 4,000 of this drop came in October.
Fiat is down nearly 3,000 units and DS is down more than 1,000 cars.
While Suzuki isn’t traditionally a big player in the broker and fleet markets, October saw a 55% drop which took the brand from a position level with last year at the end of last month to one that’s now down nearly 5%.
Speaking to Broker News, a Suzuki spokesperson blamed the recent removal from sale of several models due to the ZEV Mandate and the need to manage CO2 emissions. Suzuki now only sells three models; the Swift, Vitara and Scross.
The spokesperson added that figures would improve in the next few months.
Ford watch
Ford, once again, had a poor month. Year-to-date it is down more than 29,000 cars with October contributing more than 3,000 to that drop.
The brand had pinned its hopes on Government help for the EV market ahead of the Budget, with chair and managing director Lisa Brankin telling Broker News that Ford may have to resort to restricting supply of ICE without any consumer incentives from Labour.
Ford is now down 23.7% this year and has fallen to fifth largest manufacturer with a market share of 5.7%.
And while the Ford Puma still occupies the top spot for best selling models year-to-date, the second placed Kia Sportage is only 350 units behind. The Sportage was also more than 1,000 units ahead of the Puma in October’s ranking and looks likely to lose its top spot next month.
Overview: Market down, EVs up in October
Overall, October saw a significant slow-down in new car registrations with the month 6.0% down on 2023’s figure. The drop dulled the 10-month total, which is now running up 3.3%.
Source: SMMT
Manufacturers clearly put the majority of their efforts – discounting – into their electric cars. EV registrations for the month were up nearly 25% and accounted for more than 20% of the market. Petrol, diesel and even PHEV registrations were all down in October.
For the year-to-date, EV registrations are running up 14% with PHEV up 22%, petrol up less than 1% and diesel down nearly 13%.
The EV mix for 2024 is now at 18.1% with PHEV registrations accounting for 8.4%, petrol taking 67.1% and diesel just 6.4%.
Volkswagen remains the biggest selling brand with an 8.6% market share this year, with Audi and BMW taking second and third places.
The recent court ruling on car finance is not thought to have had a significant impact on the new car registration totals, although one brand which had to briefly suspend consumer finance said there would have been some influence on registrations, although any delayed sales would just be pushed into November.
Top 5 brands by unit increase YTD
Bottom 5 brands by unit decrease YTD
1 BMW +16,820
2 Mercedes +15,556
3 Volvo +13,282
4 Renault +12,966
5 Nissan +11,761
5 Tesla -5,275
4 Toyota -6,794
3 Audi -9,382
2 Vauxhall -16,818
1 Ford -29,375
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Tristan Young is an award winning journalist with more than 25 years’ experience reporting on the automotive industry focussing predominantly on fleet and retail. As a self-confessed petrol-head, Tristan has a weakness for car classifieds. When he’s not writing about the automotive industry, he can usually be found outdoors with a small pack of border collies.
