09 June 2013

Manufacturers announced more deals and giveaways this weekend to keep the new-car sales train rolling – while Kia let slip that it had just made its 500,000th UK sale.

In keeping with the music festival season we’re entering, Vauxhall named its latest promo The Big Event, offering buyers £500 in free fuel on top of existing deals. These include low-rate and 0% finance and discounts of up to £2000 for those taking out PCPs.

Honda, meanwhile, is running what it terms the ‘festival’ this month, promising four years’ low-rate finance, free servicing, roadside assistance and a discount of up to £1500 for those using finance plans.

These moves follow May’s registration figures from the SMMT, which show sales increases driven by private buyers. This is particularly apparent when looking at the results from Scotland, where owner-drivers account for a bigger chunk of the market than in most other parts of the UK.

There, car registrations for May rose 17.5% in comparison with a year ago. The figure for the UK overall was 11%. Douglas Robertson, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association, said 55% of sales went to private buyers. For the UK as a whole, the equivalent amount is just less than half of total sales.

While, as elsewhere, small cars proved the best sellers – the Fiesta and Corsa took top spots, the figures also included four Ferraris and one Lamborghini.

Kia, meanwhile, saw its Sandicliffe retail outlet in Leicester deliver the half-millionth vehicle sold – a cee’d ‘4’ 1.6 diesel five-door. The brand’s year-to-date market share stands at 3.2%, having seen sales rise by 8.2% in May to put them 10.6% ahead for the year so far.

Kia made its first UK sale in 1991 and sold 100,000 vehicles within three years. It took until 2008 to reach 250,000 sales.

Kia’s UK chief, Paul Philpott, said at the current rate the millionth Kia would sell before 2020. Year to date sales equal our entire annual performance from five years ago. The make has set its sights on becoming a Top 5 volume car retailer.

Tags: Corsa, Fiesta, Honda, Kia, new car sales, Scottish car sales, SMMT, SMTA, Vauxhall