Breaking down the stories from 2023's UK car sales numbers
As ever, last year’s figures didn’t disappoint. This week's Editor's Letter takes a closer look at what they show
Has the arrival of a spreadsheet ever been considered exciting? Doubtful, yet it’s still an annual highlight to download the SMMT’s annual end-of-year new car registrations for the numbers where there’s simply no hiding for car makers, for better or worse.
As ever, 2023’s numbers didn’t disappoint in the stories they produced. It was less a year of chip shortages and supply constraints, more one of falling consumer confidence and the squeeze of a cost of living crisis. Still, the market was up 18%, mainly driven by fleet orders.
So who did what? Volkswagen again claimed top spot in the UK, while Ford grew sales by 14% to take second – a performance it’s unlikely to repeat again now that the Ford Fiesta really is gone.
Audi returned to form post-chip crisis with 25% growth, comfortably topping the premium sales charts, some 26,000 units ahead of BMW and 50,000 ahead of Mercedes-Benz in the latter’s first year of agency sales.
Gone are the days of a neck-and-neck race between this trio for that honour, but given that Audi was third only to Volkswagen and Ford in the sales charts, just what is 'premium' any more?
Toyota, Vauxhall and Kia were the other brands to break through the 100,000 barrier in a year of growth for each.
Just a year ago, Kia’s entrance to the 100,000 club was one of the biggest stories from the sales figures, but such is its charge and presence in the UK that it already feels normal.
Tesla sales surprisingly went backwards, dropping 10%. The firm was one just seven in fact that went backwards last year. Four of the others were from the Stellantis stable: Alfa Romeo, Fiat, DS and Abarth. Mercifully for Stellantis, its two biggest brands, Vauxhall and Peugeot, both delivered near-20% growth on their 2022 performances.
In its first year here, BYD instantly outsold the likes of Maserati and Smart and ended not too far behind the likes of Alfa Romeo, Genesis, Ssangyong and Bentley. Expect BYD to want to ‘do an MG’ and post exponential growth from here.
MG itself in 2023 again posted stellar sales of more than 80,000 and 59% growth year on year to move within sight of heavyweights like Hyundai, Nissan and Mercedes, all of which posted growth of their own in 2023. Can MG get to 100,000? Don’t bet against it.
Newbies on the sales charts in addition to BYD included Ineos, which registered 877 Ineos Grenadiers, and Fisker, which put numberplates on 160 Oceans in December. That UK launch is going to occur any day now.
GWM Ora should also be considered a new entrant for 2023, given that it registered its first cars at the end of 2022, but it failed to leave much of an impression on UK buyers, with fewer than 1000 Funky Cats registered in 2023.
Land Rover put its supply problems behind it with 24% growth and more than 50,000 sales, taking it ahead of Tesla and Mini.
Even Jaguar posted 17% growth with 14,000 sales, keeping it just ahead of a rapidly growing Polestar – the kind of car maker that Jaguar would soon like to itself become.
Porsche's 32% growth had it just slot in behind mainstream brands including Citroën, Honda, Dacia, Cupra, Mazda and Suzuki and well ahead of the likes of Lexus and Fiat.
Other brands that posted impressive growth after recent malaise were Renault (+32%), Volvo (+37%), Mazda (+21%), Seat (+45%) and Skoda (43%). All of these brands will be grateful for making up ground lost in the chip shortage.
The projection from the SMMT for 2024 is for sales to grow 4% again in 2024. That smaller growth compared with the 18% of 2023 isn't going to lead to as many success stories from car makers, especially with so many ambitious new entrants into this most dynamic and interesting of markets. Let the games begin.