A CONTINUING growth in fleet sales seems set to ensure 1996 new car sales will be above 1995 levels. Fleet sales in September totalled 63,887 - 3.4% up on September 1995's 61,767 units - with the 1996 fleet market running at 5.9% above 1995 levels at 768,709 (725,573).

Meanwhile, total new car registrations in September were 138,059 - 1.4% down on September 1995 when the figure was 140,069. A total of 1,657,234 cars have been registered in the first nine months of 1996 - 4% ahead of the first nine months of 1995 when the total was 1,594,166. While industry experts believe a two million car market is possible in 1996 it seems speculation early this year that fleet sales would account for half the market could fall shy with sources predicting fleet business will account for about 48-49%.

Top 10 best-selling fleet manufacturers in September were: Ford, 14,027; Vauxhall, 11,708; Rover, 5,694; Peugeot, 4,536; Renault, 4,502; Volkswagen, 3,971; Nissan, 3,427; Fiat, 3,103; Citroen, 2,186; Toyota, 1,718.

Top 10 best-selling fleet models in September were: Ford Mondeo, 5,186; Vauxhall Vectra, 4,781; Ford Escort, 4,558; Vauxhall Astra, 3,283; Ford Fiesta, 3,222; VW Golf, 2,602; Vauxhall Corsa, 2,490; Rover 400, 1,941; Peugeot 406, 1,930; Peugeot 306, 1,815.