September Surge Keeps Honda On Track For Record Year

A strong September has kept Honda on track to achieve its best ever UK car sales year. With 16,800 sales recorded for the month, the company has increased year to date sales by 13% over last year, with a market share of 3.7%. Honda is now the fastest growing manufacturer car company in the UK top 10.

Leading Honda’s individual model performance is the Jazz, with September taking this year’s sales total past the 20,000 mark - zooming ahead of the 5-door VW Polo, Renault Clio and Nissan Micra. It makes the Jazz the third most popular supermini among private buyers in Britain.

But the locally built Civic remains Honda (UK)’s most popular range. Benefiting from a major upgrade earlier this year, the Civic has become Britain’s most prolific 3 door petrol compact, having recently ousted the Ford Focus. The Civic 5dr now ranks fourth in class - ahead of the Peugeot 307, Renault Mégane as well as the Toyota Corolla and Nissan Almera.

With Honda’s widely acclaimed new i-CTDi diesel available since the start of this year Accord sales have been boosted by almost 70% - while in Europe as a whole, diesel Accords have now overtaken petrol models in popularity.

Honda’s performance in Britain is reflected in Europe as a whole. For the year to date, sales are 17% up on last year’s figure, with gains in virtually every major market. This means Honda car sales will pass the quarter million annual milestone for the first time this year. Particularly strong performances have been achieved by the Accord (up 53%), Jazz (up 26%) and Civic (up 12%) ranges – while thanks to the 2.2 i-CTDi unit in the Accord, Honda’s diesel car sales have almost trebled.

Honda (UK)’s General Manager David Strangeway comments: "We’re really buoyed by this performance – it’s a tribute to the strength-in-depth of our product range, and the hard work and enthusiasm of our dealers. This year we’ve turned a corner: we’ve gone from being a worthy company selling worthy cars, to becoming one of the most dynamic motor companies with an award winning line-up that’s the envy of our competitors. But rest assured this success will not dilute the core values of the Honda brand – we remain committed to selling top quality products at an affordable price, and to achieving number one customer satisfaction."