5 October 2022
- New car sales increase by 4.6% compared to last September but still 34% behind 2019
- British built Nissan Qashqai tops the sales charts in joint most important month for the industry
- Tesla sales bounce back with Model Y second highest seller in September, boosting EV sales results
September, the joint most important month of the year for new car sales, saw a slight increase of 4.6% compared to last year, masking an otherwise lacklustre result which lags behind 2019’s pre-pandemic sales by 34%, says The Car Expert.
Despite the economic and political turbulence, the British built Nissan Qashqai topped the sales charts for the month of September, with the crossover SUV securing 9,311 deliveries – more than doubling its result from last year. The Tesla Model Y took second spot, with its 8,315 sales helping to boost overall electric car sales to 38,000 for the month.
Consumer sales were down by 4% compared to September last year, while fleet deliveries grew by 12%. The outwardly positive data disguises an underlying reticence amongst buyers as the ongoing cost of living crisis stalls consumer confidence and points to a challenging final quarter of the year for the sector.
Stuart Masson, Editorial Director at The Car Expert, the UK’s most comprehensive automotive consumer advice site, said: “September is an incredibly important month for the sector as a whole. Any rise in sales should be welcomed given our political and economic circumstances, however we are way behind pre-pandemic sales levels. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it gives the industry an opportunity to create a more sustainable approach with a more balanced supply and demand position.
“Singling out individual models, the Nissan Qashqai’s success this year is a real boon for the brand, and for Britain too. The fact it is built here should be a source of pride and it could end up as the UK’s best-selling car of 2022 if Nissan can contain its current momentum,” continued Stuart Masson.
“It is interesting to see Tesla sales bounce back. It operates differently to other brands; its sales fluctuate dramatically but this month it is right back up there with the Model Y, which has become the country’s most popular electric car.”
Sales of electric vehicles grew by 16.5% compared to September last year as buyers increasingly turn to fully electric cars instead of plug-in hybrid vehicles, with demand slumping by nearly 12% compared to last year and continuing a year-long decline.
The Car Expert provides independent and impartial advice on every aspect of buying, financing, owning, and selling new or used vehicles. For more information, please visit: https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/
ENDS
The Car Expert
Founded in 2011, The Car Expert is the UK’s most comprehensive automotive consumer advice site. With an audience of over two million readers a year, The Car Expert provides independent and impartial advice on every aspect of buying, financing, owning, and selling new or used vehicles.
The Rotten Tomatoes equivalent for the automotive world, The Car Expert consolidates reviews from 30 of the UK’s top automotive websites to create the Expert Rating Index. Bringing together science and data analysis, the index calculates a weighted average to give an aggregated score – Expert Rating – that is comparable across different brands and models.
The Expert Rating Index factors in the age of each review, so that newer reviews carry more weight than older reviews. It also breaks down the complex web of different scoring systems that various websites use in their reviews.
The Car Expert has logged over 13,000 reviews covering more than 400 cars and over 50 manufacturers, with its Expert Rating Index now trusted as the gold standard for rating and ranking new cars in the UK.
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