Fleet registrations drove the new car market in March, with 40% more company cars sold year-on-year, new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) suggest. Overall new car registrations were up by 18.2% to deliver the best ‘new plate month’ performance since before the pandemic.

However, with deliveries to private buyers up by just 1.4%, the overall increase was thanks to fleet and business registrations. From the 287,825 new cars delivered, some 148,602 were registered to fleets, 40% more than the 106,177 company cars delivered in March, 2022.

It was the eighth consecutive month of growth for the new car market, as supply chain challenges slowly continue to ease.

As a result, the first quarter of 2023 is the strongest since 2019, with just under half a million new cars joining the road. However, the market still being significantly below pre-pandemic levels, down 29.5% on Q1 2019.

Year-to-date, some 266,007 new cars have been registered to fleet and business, 75,870 more than the 190,137 units registered in the first three months of last year.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said: “March’s new plate month usually sets the tone for the year so this performance will give the industry and consumers greater confidence. With eight consecutive months of growth, the automotive industry is recovering, bucking wider trends and supporting economic growth.”