SALES volumes for all market sectors are continuing to slide year-on-year, with February predictably slow for new car sales as buyers waited for the new March registration plate.

The fleet market is down 8.4% year-on-year at 128,998 units and business sales down 18.5% at 14,624.

The Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders claims fleet volumes remain lower than usual as a result of company car drivers rushing to register diesel cars last December to take advantage of the 3% tax break on Euro IV diesel cars.

According to insiders, in a bid to get cars onto fleets in December some major volume and premium carmakers were offering leasing companies deals of up to a third off list prices.

However, diesel sales volumes have held strong in 2006 when compared to last year.

In February, the market fell by only 79 units to 28,859, ensuring a 38% market share, up from 37.5% in 2005.

Taking into account that potentially thousands of diesel buyers had registered early in December, the diesel share of the market could be even higher still.

In terms of car sales, the Focus retained its top spot, and year-to-date is more than 25% up as all its new variants come on stream. The Fiesta is up a massive 62% to nearly 5,500.

Ford’s joy is tempered by the performance of the Mondeo, which is the biggest loser in the top 10, down 30%.

The biggest winners in the fleet top 10 are Audi (up 47.9%) and Peugeot. While Audi’s continued impressive performance is no surprise, Peugeot’s is, especially when compared to great rival Renault, which is down 45.7% year-to-date.

Increases for the 407 (up 74%) and 307 (44%) have put Peugeot in a solid third place overall, up 39% in total across its range. But new Peugeot managing director Pierre Louis Colin has denied that the Coventry firm is using substantial discounting in an effort to buy back the share it lost as the result of a change in marketing tactics.

He said: ‘We decided to give up selling through the channels that were proving so costly that we were not able to run our business at a reasonable operating profit.

‘But penetration of 7% for January and around 7.8% for February show we have made a particularly good start to 2006.’

Colin added: ‘This is a significant improvement because the mix of vehicles we are selling is giving us a good balance between fleet and retail. We’re now back in line with our objective, which was to reach 6.5% market share.

‘Our team achieved an extra 5% volume for January, against the background of a total market down by 12%, and I’m delighted that, after a slow start, the order rate for March is very strong.’

Top 10 fleet models

		Feb 06		Feb 05		YTD 06		YTD 05		% change
1. Ford Focus		6,263		4,029		14,444		11,482		+25.8
2. Vauxhall Astra		3,870		4,200		9,155		11,153		-17.1
3. Vauxhall Corsa		2,027		2,058		5,780		6,437		-10.2
4. Peugeot 407		1,711		499		3,683		2,114		+74.2
5. Ford Mondeo		1,711		2,072		4,718		6,824		-30.9
6. Volkswagen Golf		1,703		1,896		3,780		4,304		-12.2
7. Peugeot 307		1,599		1,045		4,329		3,007		+44.0
8. Ford Fiesta		1,520		657		5,489		3,389		+62.0
9. Vauxhall Zafira		1,479		1,304		3,937		5,227		-24.7
10. Vauxhall Vectra		1,300		2,011		3,959		5,655		-30.0

Top fleet manufacturers

		Feb 06		Feb 05		YTD 06		YTD 05		% change
1. Ford		10,285		8,077		27,198		25,701		+5.8
2. Vauxhall		9,144		9,995		24,533		29,951		-12.1
3.Peugeot		4,376		2,172		11,137		8,065		+38.1
4. Volkswagen		4,203		4,394		9,766		10,536		-7.3
5. Renault		2,453		3,025		7,161		13,195		-45.7
6. Audi		1,950		1,435		6,025		4,074		+47.9
7. Citroen		1,706		1,289		4,437		3,577		+24.0
8. BMW		1,479		1,148		3,493		3,148		+11.0
9. Toyota		1,140		1,403		4,759		6,285		-24.3
10. Honda		1,034		998		3,576		4,236		-15.6

Top petrol models in February

Make		Model Range		Feb-06		Feb-05		YTD-06		YTD-05
FORD		FOCUS		4451		3049		9994		8153
VAUXHALL		ASTRA		2896		2447		6448		6717
VAUXHALL		CORSA		1825		1890		5278		5624
FORD		FIESTA		1216		558		4576		2875
VAUXHALL		ZAFIRA		1206		363		2897		1887
PEUGEOT		307		997		401		2559		1252
RENAULT		MEGANE		802		842		3004		3248
VOLKSWAGEN		GOLF		727		791		1395		1461
PEUGEOT		206		689		318		1996		1832
VAUXHALL		VECTRA		670		1096		1855		3110

Top diesel models in February

Make		Model Range		Feb-06		Feb-05		YTD-06		YTD-05
FORD		FOCUS		1812		980		4450		3329
PEUGEOT		407		1678		473		3269		2007
VOLKSWAGEN		PASSAT		1140		754		2740		2183
FORD		MONDEO		1119		1278		3029		4450
VOLKSWAGEN CARS		GOLF		976		1105		2385		2843
VAUXHALL		ASTRA		971		1753		2696		4433
VAUXHALL		VECTRA		630		907		2104		2510
PEUGEOT		307		602		644		1770		1755
AUDI		A3		570		426		1532		1295
AUDI		A4		526		504		1785		1188