FLEET sales increased 2.7% year-on-year to 88,049 last month (June 1998: 85,745), taking fleet sales for the first six months of 1999 to 545,631 - 2.1% behind last year's halfway figure of 557,358.

Ford led the fleet sales chart last month despite a 4.2% year-on-year drop in sales and, in the Focus, it had the best-selling fleet model with sales of 5,849. Ford's total fleet sales are fractionally down after six months against last year but Focus automatic, Ghia and diesel models have still to come fully on stream and the manufacturer also pulled out of the Motability market for three months earlier this year.

Vauxhall's fleet sales increased 26.6% year-on-year last month to 15,987 with the Vauxhall Vectra narrowly outselling the Ford Mondeo, which saw sales drop year-on-year by more than a quarter. Elsewhere, the rise in fleet sales followed predicted year-on-year declines in April and May following the launch of the T-plate in March Peugeot recovered some of the ground it lost in the first five months of the year to Renault as fleet sales increased 15.2%, while Honda and BMW made rare appearances in the top 10 fleet best-selling manufacturers list at the expense of Citroen and Toyota.

Volkswagen saw fleet sales once again rise dramatically year-on-year at 6,175 units (June 1998: 3,772) with business for the half-year up 65.4%, while Rover again saw fleet sales tumble year-on-year by almost 60% in June as market share for the first six months of 1999 dropped to almost 4% with sales of 22,783. While Ford's fleet sales are fractionally down in the first six months of 1999 compared to the same period last year, chief rival Vauxhall has seen sales increase by more than 10% over the same period, Renault sales are up 4% and Volkswagen's a massive 65.4%.

Top 10 best-selling fleet manufacturers in June were: Ford 18,410, Vauxhall 15,987, Peugeot 8,494, Renault 8,162, Volkswagen 6,175, Nissan 3,887, Fiat 3,749, Rover 3,316, Honda 2,430, BMW 2,069.

Top 10 best-selling fleet models in June were: Ford Focus 5,849, Vauxhall Vectra 5,186, Ford Mondeo 5,166, Vauxhall Astra 4,938, Vauxhall Corsa 4,213, Peugeot 306 3,304, Ford Fiesta 3,117, Renault Megane 3,100, Renault Clio 2,939, Peugeot 406 2,826.