UK Auto Sales By Brand - March 2012

The UK auto market grew 1.8% in March 2012 as private registrations jumped 7.4%, the SMMT says. Volkswagen, Audi, Nissan, BMW, Peugeot, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz are the major automakers which exceeded the overall market's year-over-year increase. Vauxhall, the second-ranked brand, was down 7.1%. 

Ford, the United Kingdom's best-selling automobile brand, was up 1.9% in March and 3.5% in the first quarter. As we reported yesterday, seven out of every ten Fords sold were either Foci or Fiestas. The same rate applies to Vauxhall's Corsa and Astra. 64% of Volkswagens registered in March were Golfs or Polos. 

Audi was again Britain's top-ranked premium brand, a statement some deem provocative given Audi's £13,420 price of entry. (Audi also sells the £116,710 R8 V10 Spyder.) Audi has led BMW in each of 2012's first three months. 

In terms of group market share, which you can study by clicking the chart at the bottom of this post, Volkswagen's brand cornucopia garnered 19% of the overall market in March 2012. That's down from 22.9% in February. GM and Ford market share slid, but only slightly. Toyota's share of the market grew by nearly two percentage points from February's 3.5% to March's 5.3%. Land Rover and Jaguar's share grew by more than two percentage points, all the way to 3.9%. That's better market share than the Fiat group managed; more than Honda, too.

A complete rundown of each automaker's UK sales in March 2012 can be viewed in the table below. No major automaker posted greater year-over-year gains than Skoda, Volkswagen's Czech subsidiary. Lotus sales plunged 82%. Don't miss the Canadian and U.S. versions of this March Auto Sales By Brand post while you're visiting GCBC. Ford's #1 there, as well.

Rank	Automaker	March 2012	%  Change	Year To Date	YTD  % Change
#1	Ford	53,830	+ 1.9%	82,848	+ 3.5%
#2	Vauxhall	38,624	- 7.1%	57,836	- 13.3%
#3	Volkswagen	30,756	+ 9.6%	49,873	+ 6.8%
#4	Audi	23,416	+ 12.9%	35,962	+ 9.6%
#5	Nissan	20,586	+ 21.4%	30,081	+ 20.3%
#6	BMW	20,566	+ 14.3%	30,063	- 0.8%
#7	Peugeot	18,969	+ 2.0%	29,411	+ 3.2%
#8	Toyota	18,032	+ 11.4%	25,760	+ 8.7%
#9	Mercedes-Benz	16,334	+ 10.5%	25,576	+ 13.0%
#10	Citroen	12,995	+ 0.6%	19,585	- 4.7%
#11	Hyundai	11,715	+ 3.3%	17,761	+ 2.4%
#12	Land Rover	11,490	+ 14.0%	15,810	+ 19.2%
#13	Kia	11,178	+ 11.7%	17,211	+ 17.3%
#14	Honda	10,134	- 8.1%	14,747	- 13.4%
#15	Fiat	8730	+ 2.6%	13,059	+ 5.8%
#16	Skoda	8507	+ 32.5%	13,878	+ 24.2%
#17	Mini	8451	- 9.3%	11,306	- 6.6%
#18	Renault	7364	- 50.0%	11,581	- 43.2%
#19	Mazda	6869	- 1.6%	9708	- 7.1%
#20	Seat	6817	- 6.0%	10,084	- 3.7%
#21	Suzuki	5941	+ 19.6%	7711	+ 12.5%
#22	Volvo	5637	- 14.4%	8875	- 6.0%
#23	Jaguar	2907	- 1.5%	4020	- 0.4%
#24	Chevrolet	2743	+ 9.1%	5282	+ 40.4%
#25	Lexus	1744	+ 0.6%	2692	+ 18.3%
#26	Alfa Romeo	1540	- 32.1%	2309	- 26.7%
#27	Mitsubishi	1417	- 43.4%	2102	- 41.2%
#28	Porsche	1160	+ 31.2%	1728	+ 27.6%
#29	smart	972	- 12.9%	1488	- 0.07%
#30	Chrysler	634	+ 407%	782	+ 293%
#31	Subaru	542	- 27.0%	920	- 8.6%
#32	Jeep	444	+ 32.5%	682	+ 48.6%
#33	Abarth	282	- 2.1%	362	- 9.7%
#34	MG	236	+ 2850%	446	+ 2378%
#35	Aston Martin	207	- 7.2%	303	- 4.4%
#36	Bentley	198	+ 20.0%	329	+ 30.0%
#37	Ssangyong	171	+ 4175%	233	+ 3229%
#38	Saab	105	- 94.1%	114	- 95.2%
#39	Infiniti	102	+ 117%	144	+ 54.8%
#40	Perodua	83	- 20.2%	135	- 11.8%
#41	Proton	59	- 39.8%	95	- 39.5%
#42	Maserati	48	- 21.3%	99	- 9.2%
#43	Lotus	10	- 81.8%	35	- 73.7%

Source: Automakers & SMMT

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