ALTHOUGH November fleet sales were down year-on-year - the first monthly fall this year - sales for the first 11 months of 1996 are 4.7% up on 1995 levels at 912,407 (January-November 1995: 871,330) compared with 912,629 for the whole of last year.

And as fleet sales move to a new record high, so the total new car market looks set to break the two million mark for only the fifth time on record with year-on-year sales currently at 1,947,309 - 3.9% ahead of the January-November 1995 total of 1,873,826.

Last month's fleet sales totalled 70,370 - 7.4% down on November 1995's total of 76,005 units - with only Peugeot, Fiat and Volkswagen of the leading fleet manufacturers reporting year-on-year sales increases. Last month fleet sales took a 51.99% share of the total new car market which was down 5.4% on November 1995 at 135,342 (143,055).

Top 10 best-selling fleet manufacturers in November were: Vauxhall, 13,167; Ford, 12,437; Rover, 11,071; Peugeot, 6,350; Renault, 3,812; Fiat, 3,609; Volkswagen, 3,339; Nissan, 3,068; Citroen, 2,087; Honda, 1,699.

Top 10 best-selling fleet cars in November were: Vauxhall Vectra, 4,885; Ford Mondeo, 4,806; Vauxhall Astra, 4,476; Rover 400, 4,319; Ford Escort, 3,850; Rover 200, 3,210; Peugeot 406, 2,497; Volkswagen Golf, 2,399; Peugeot 306, 2,341; Ford Fiesta, 2,224.