Vauxhall is celebrating a 1-2 position in the February 2023 new car sales leaderboard following the release of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) registration figures.
The Vauxhall Corsa topped the best-selling new car list last month with 2,818 sales. It was followed by Vauxhall Mokka in second place with 1,805 registrations.
Healthy outlook for new car sales
Crossover SUVs like the Mokka were popular in February, with the Nissan Juke in third, followed by the Ford Puma. The Hyundai Tucson took fifth place on the sales charts, with seven of the top 10 best-selling vehicles being SUVs.
Overall new vehicle sales rose 26.2% in February, the market’s seventh straight month of growth.
hybrid electric car Sales jumped 40%, with battery electric registrations up 18.2%. Plug-in hybrids rose just 1 percent, while diesel sales fell 7 percent.
SMMT expects sales of new plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicles to reach 488,000 units. However, it said “measures must be taken in the forthcoming Budget” to continue to help sales of electric models.
Vivaro electrifies new van sales
Vauxhall also takes the top spot in the February 2023 sales charts thanks to the electric Vivaro van.
It took the UK’s best-selling electric light commercial vehicle (LCV) result for the month, with 264 examples finding new homes. Combined with the smaller Combi Electric, this means a quarter of electric vans sold bear the Vauxhall badge.
Total van sales rose 8.5 percent in February, marking the best month for light commercial vehicle registrations in 25 years. However, total registrations of electric vans decreased by 44.5% compared to February 2022.
Mike Hawes, CEO of SMMT, said: “After a scorching 2022, the UK van market is returning to sustained growth, even surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Given the importance of vans to keeping the UK economy and society going, this Growth is good news.
“However, as the ZEV market is still at a very early stage, it must be imperative for all stakeholders to work together to accelerate the installation of charge points suitable for vans to achieve long-term net-zero fleet investment of the necessary scale.”
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Vauxhall grabs 1-2 in February’s best-selling new cars chart