Vauxhall has topped the new car fleet sales table for the month of April although it is still behind arch rival Ford in the total market table for 2008.
The fleet market was up 7.5% despite the faltering economy and speculation of a credit crunch – the total number of cars registered last month stood at 92,563 while the year-to-date figure now reads up 2.2% at 412,647 units.
This means that the overall figure for the first four months of 2008 is exactly the same as that for the first four months of 2007 – however retail sales are down on the 2007 figure.
The Blue Oval did come top on the model chart with the Focus holding off a four-pronged attack from Vauxhall as the Astra, Corsa, Vectra and Zafira came in second to fifth respectively.
Renault had a disappointing month as it slid to eighth place in the manufacturer table from its usual fifth, whereas Audi, BMW and Toyota took advantage and moved up one place each.
Simon McBride
