Scots car sales stall as UK dealers motor on for 39th month

Scottish car dealers suffered a year-on-year drop in sales last month while their colleagues south of the border enjoyed a modest rise, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

A total of 16,357 new car registrations were recorded in Scotland in May, compared with 17,800 a year earlier.

Meanwhile, across the UK, car sales continued to rise with the number of new registrations increasing for the 39th month in a row to hit almost 200,000.

A total of 198,706 cars were sold last month, 2.4 per cent up on May last year, or 4,674 extra vehicles.

While bosses at Scottish dealerships were quick to point out that May 2014 had been a record performance for that month, the 8.1 per cent year-on-year decrease north of the Border was still noted as disappointing.

The latest results mean the first five months of 2015 have seen sales of new cars in Scotland on a par with the same period in 2014.

Douglas Robertson, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association, said: “Obviously we are disappointed once again to see a reduction, but I think we need to bear in mind that May 2014 was the best May we had ever had, so it’s not the case that the 2015 figures reflect a poor month.

“However, we did predict a levelling of demand over the year as a whole and, as we are now on a par with last year’s cumulative figure for the year, this would appear to confirm our predictions.”

The Vauxhall Corsa, which was recently relaunched, was the best-seller, following by the Ford Fiesta.

The SMMT, which compiles all of the data, also reported “remarkable” growth in demand for plug-in vehicles amid a huge increase in sales of low emission cars.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “The remarkable growth in demand for plug-ins is expected to continue as the range of ultra-low emission vehicles on sale increases.

“Meanwhile, we anticipate a natural levelling out of the overall new car market throughout the remainder of 2015.”

Sales of ultra-low emission vehicles (Ulevs) neared 12,000 between January and May, a four-fold increase on the 2,838 registrations in the same period last year.