Company car drivers push sales to record

CAR sales are on course for a fourth successive record year, pushed higher by companies renewing their fleet vehicles after buying by private motorists tailed off.

Industry sources said a good start to December suggested that sales would hit 156,135 for this month. This total would be needed for 2004 to surpass last year's all-time sales high of 2.58m vehicles.

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders will be released early next month, but the latest numbers for the first two weeks of December point to the record being broken for the fourth successive year.

For most of the year, sales to companies, mainly due to the replacement of ageing vehicle fleets, have outpaced retail customers who have driven the market in recent years.

But dealers expect private customers to return in the New Year with several makers lining up big campaigns, including 0% finance deals, to lure them back. A sign that they are preparing for a New Year push is that production rose 4.5% last month, the highest November output since 2000.

November sales figures from the SMMT show registrations rose 1.8% to 172,094 vehicles, which left the year to November only 682 units behind the same period in 2003.

Trevor Finn, chief executive of Pendragon, the biggest car dealer, said: 'The strength of corporate sales has helped to compensate for weakening sales in the private sector.'

The Ford Focus is expected to be the best-selling car for the sixth successive year, while another feature of 2004 has been the growth of diesel cars. They now account for more than a third of all cars sold.