UK Fleet Registrations Drop Despite Strong SUV Sales

Registrations in the United Kingdom true fleet market saw a 6.1% drop for the month of October, continuing a slide that was driven heavily by the impact of the the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) deadline in September, according to Dataforce.

Though not as significant of a drop as in September, which had declined 22.5% then, the U.K. is one of several European countries which has seen fleet registrations fall due to the WLTP, which requires manufacturers to ensure certain vehicles meet a new required emissions standard before they are able to legally sell the vehicle in Europe.

For October, the leading manufacturer of fleet registrations was Volkswagen, which was followed by Ford and Mercedes-Benz. Volkswagen also had the bestselling compact SUV for fleets in October, with the Tiguan, Dataforce said in a recent report.

Despite the overall decline, small, compact, and medium SUVs achieved all-time records for October, as well.

Following the top three manufacturers was BMW in fourth place, which had a 31.5% growth on the month and was fueled by sales of the 5 Series and the 2 Series Gran Tourer.