AFTER the massive 20.5% drop in September as a result of WLTP, the UK’s passenger car market was down by a reduced margin in October.

However,  with – 6.1% decrease the True Fleet channel was hit harder than private customers which were only 1.0% behind the volume of October 2017. With only nine units fewer than October last year, Special Channels were extraordinary stable.

But only on the first look because the registrations on Dealerships/Manufacturers decreased by more than 1,200 cars and this was almost completely compensated by the rise in registrations of Short-Term Rentals, where we could see several brands with triple-digit growth rates.

Brand performance

Within the top 10 fleet brands there was quite a lot of action and so only one brand kept its position in the ranking (Kia at number 9).

Following a tough September Volkswagen was able to take the crown for True Fleet again in October but Volkswagen, Ford and Mercedes were only separated by 86 registrations.

With a + 31.5% growth, BMW in fourth achieved the biggest percentage growth within the top 10 fuelled by the 5 Series (especially the 530e PHEV) and the 2 Series Gran Tourer.

Toyota in 6th, just behind Vauxhall, achieved a + 21.1% rise and Peugeot followed in 8th behind Nissan, registered a solid + 27.9% in October.

For both brands the upswing was predominantly generated by SUV models (C-HR, RAV4 and 2008, 3008 and 5008 respectively).

Outside the top 10, Volvo performed remarkeably well, and achieved its highest market share for four years jumping from rank number 17 into 14th place with an impressive + 62.0%. Both the XC60 and the S90 more than doubled their registrations, while the all-new XC40 also contributed significantly.

Vehicle segment performance

The rise of SUVs is not news. Nevertheless, it is amazing to see how strong the demand continues irrespective of market segmentation.

Small, Compact and Medium SUVs all achieved new all-time records in October and with 2.52% the group of Large SUVs was very, very close to achieving the same.

The two top-sellers within SUV Small, Nissan Juke and Vauxhall Mokka, were both in the red but all other models in the top 10 raised their volumes or were new entries like the T-Roc from Volkswagen (already 3rd in October) and the SEAT Arona (10th).

The Volkswagen Tiguan was clearly leading the Compact SUV class and more than doubled its registrations year on year. The same is true for the Mercedes GLA, ranking third behind the Nissan Qashqai while the Vauxhall Grandland X is currently the most successful new entry both in the current month and year-to-date.

The Medium SUV segment was led by a Japanese model: the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Eight out of 10 company car drivers opted for the Plug-In version. Mercedes GLC (2nd, + 82.0%) and Volvo XC60 (3rd, + 103.4%) had a massive jump but the Peugeot 5008  had a five-digit growth rate and gained no less than 19 positions pushing the first domestic model, the Land Rover Discovery Sport aside.