BMW tops the nation’s fastest sellers in August with its compact 1 Series Hatchback, SUV's dominate though.

• BMW tops the nation’s fastest sellers in August with its compact 1 Series Hatchback
• Toyota AYGO city car ranks second with its fourth appearance in the top ten in 2016
• But it’s Crossovers that prove the big hit with buyers with five in the UK’s top ten

The BMW 1 Series was the fastest set of wheels off the UK’s forecourts in August.

The 2012 premium hatchback proved a big hit with buyers and in this petrol automatic guise took just an average of 19 days to sell.

Taking second spot is a regular visitor to the UK’s fastest selling cars, the Toyota AYGO. The 2014 model with petrol engine and automatic gearbox took 21 days to find a buyer and this is the fourth time this year the compact city car has made an appearance in the UK’s top ten quickest selling cars.

Meanwhile the Fiat 500L, the larger five-door version of the popular urban runaround, pops up for the second time in the nation’s rapid sellers to rank third. The diesel automatic version took 21 days from forecourt to buyer – the same time as the Toyota AYGO.

It’s Crossovers, however, that dominated the sales charts in August taking five of the top ten spots nationally and were the quickest sellers in seven of the UK’s regions.

Nissan’s Qashqai continues to prove popular as a used buy and makes frequent appearances in the UK’s and regional’s monthly fastest sellers. It’s the rarer seven-seat model, the Qashqai+2, that ranks as the fifth fastest selling car in the UK and takes first place in Yorkshire. The standard five-seat model found was changing hands quickest in the South West and ranked ninth nationally.

The SMMT new car registration data for August echoes the UK top ten fastest selling used cars as the Nissan Qashqai is the tenth most popular new car. What’s more, the new car registrations ranked the Ford Kuga as the ninth best-selling model in the UK. It’s a 2015 Kuga with petrol engine and manual gearbox that ranks as the tenth fastest seller in the country taking 25 days from landing at the showroom to finding a buyer.

Karolina Edwards-Smajda, Retailer and Consumer Products Director said: “Crossovers continue to be highly sought after by buyers as our fastest selling car data and the SMMT’s new car registration figures confirm. But as the UK’s top three fastest selling cars prove it’s not always easy to tell what type of car will always prove popular with consumers. Retailers who place data at the heart of their business will be able to glean insights as to what cars are desirable in their area and where to price them to the market to attract buyers, and these insights can supplement a retailer’s own expertise and knowledge.”

Karolina Edwards-Smajda continues: “With consumers all looking for something different it is difficult to tell which vehicles are particularly in demand in a given location at a given time. Employing data and a scientific approach means you will always know what cars to put on your forecourt and how to price them to attract buyers and sell cars quickly. A faster speed of sale means more profit per car and more sales overall, leading to more sales and more profit in a year.”

Rank*	Description	Average Days to Sell	Average Price Position	Average Retail Price
1	2012 BMW 1 Series Hatchback Petrol Automatic	19	100.10%	£12,999
2	2014 Toyota AYGO Hatchback Petrol Semi-Automatic	21	98.17%	£6,713
3	2013 Fiat 500L Hatchback Diesel Automatic	21	98.75%	£8,024
4	2013 Seat Altea XL MPV Diesel Automatic	22	97.65%	£8,094
5	2013 Nissan Qashqai+2 Hatchback Petrol Automatic	23	99.12%	£14,243
6	2009 Mazda Mazda6 Hatchback Diesel Manual	24	92.87%	£4,133
7	2013 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV Diesel Automatic	25	99.87%	£15,920
8	2014 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV Diesel Automatic	25	99.70%	£18,459
9	2014 Nissan Qashqai Hatchback Diesel Automatic	25	98.98%	£17,513
10	2015 Ford Kuga SUV Petrol Manual	25	99.44%	£17,201

Users of i-Control took an average time to sell of 28 days versus a market average of 63 days in August. This means those dealerships using our data insights tool now outperform the market by over 55%.

i-Control tracks live market movements, recommends what stock to buy, where to find it, how much to pay for it, and how much to sell it for taking into account regional differences in desirability – and is proven to improve stock turn, as we’ve seen, by nearly 60%.

Using a combination of daily guide prices from over 4,500 dealer websites, the 500,000+ ads on autotrader.co.ukand price data from all major auctions, fleet & lease companies and manufacturers, i-Control provides accurate valuations ensuring retailers’ stock is competitively priced from day one.

*Please note that ranking for fastest selling is based on days to sell and the vehicle count with those cars enjoying the fewest days to sell and the highest vehicle count being ranked highest.

Regional Fastest Sellers

Region	Make/Model	Days to sell
East of England	2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SUV Diesel Automatic	26
East Midlands	2015 Nissan Juke Hatchback Diesel Manual	22
London	2012 Ford Galaxy MPV Diesel Automatic	10
North East	2015 Nissan Note Hatchback Petrol Manual	22
North West	2015 Mercedes-Benz A Class Hatchback Diesel Automatic	21
Northern Ireland	2013 Volkswagen Golf Hatchback Diesel Manual	32
Scotland	2015 Hyundai ix35 Estate Diesel Manual	14
South	2013 BMW 3 Series Estate Diesel Automatic	25
South East	2013 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV Diesel Automatic	23
South West	2014 Nissan Qashqai Hatchback Diesel Manual	30
Wales	2015 Hyundai i30 Hatchback Diesel Manual	27
West Midlands	2015 Hyundai ix35 Estate Diesel Manual	23
Yorkshire	2013 Nissan Qashqai+2 Hatchback Diesel Manual	20

Bridgend Engine Facility celebrates two significant milestones for Ford.

Ford’s Bridgend Engine Plant (BEP) in Wales has built its 19-millionth engine, 35 years after production began in May 1980. Earlier this year the Plant also produced its eight-millionth small capacity petrol “Duratec” engine, since ‘job one’ at Bridgend in May 1998.

These two significant landmarks were celebrated by Ford Bridgend’s 2,200-strong workforce, alongside Ford Glasgow 2014 Athlete Ambassador, Aled Davies, whose father has worked at the plant for 35 years. They were joined by Paralympic athlete Nathan Stephens, whose father, Barrie, is also a BEP employee.

Bridgend Engine Plant manager, Ian Pearson, said: “We have a proud record of high-volume engine production at Bridgend, and we’re delighted to celebrate two significant milestones with the team that builds them.

“The Duratec engine has been produced here for 17 years and is exported across the globe. This is built alongside Ford’s very latest technology – our EcoBoost products – which provide ultra-low emissions, excellent fuel economy, refinement and performance.”

Ford Bridgend supplies petrol engines for Ford vehicles around the world, including the new 1.5-litre EcoBoost, available on the new Ford Focus, Ford Kuga, Ford Mondeo, and Ford S-MAX models. The existing 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine used to power the multi-award-winning Ford Fiesta ST is also built at the Plant.

More than 700,000 engines were built at Bridgend last year alone, 80 per cent of which were exported. A large number of these engines are exported across the Atlantic; more than 620,000 engines produced at Bridgend have been exported to the United States and Mexico since production began, with more than 75,000 so far this year*.

Last year a wind turbine was installed at Ford Bridgend, supplying energy directly to the plant. The turbine is capable of supplying up to 1,700 megawatt hours (MWh) per annum.

*As of 30 April 2015

Ford increases production of new Kuga

Ford Kuga production is set to increase by 10 per cent this year to cope with an increasing demand throughout Europe. As a result, production of Ford’s latest smart utility vehicle is expected to reach 100,000 units annually for the first time.

Demand in the UK is helping drive Kuga’s production growth. Since it was launched at the end of last year, over 8,000 orders have been placed as families switch to SUVs in favour of conventional saloon cars.

Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe, said: “The new Kuga is a smarter SUV that offers a comprehensive array of technologies including the segment-first hands-free tailgate, and debuts Ford’s global intelligent all-wheel-drive system.

“This significant production increase is a very promising start to an SUV rollout that is spearheaded by the new Kuga and leverages Ford’s historic leadership in SUVs in North America and other regions to bring to Europe the all-new EcoSport, and later the Ford Edge.”

Ford has said it expects to sell more than one million SUVs in Europe in the next six years with SUVs accounting for 10 per cent of all Fords sold in the region by 2016. Ford Kuga UK sales and share were both up in March 2013, compared with last year.

The all-new compact EcoSport will launch at the end of 2013, and will later be followed by the next generation Ford Edge, a larger and more premium utility vehicle popular in the U.S. and other markets.

The new Ford Kuga achieved a Euro NCAP overall protection score of 88 per cent, the highest-ever for a mid-sized SUV, as well as a Euro NCAP Advanced reward for the Ford SYNC with Emergency Assistance system, which  calls emergency services in the appropriate local language for the region following an accident.

New Kuga also delivers class-leading fuel economy through significantly improved fuel efficiency from a powertrain line-up that, for the first time, includes EcoBoost engine technology. Petrol engine fuel consumption has been reduced by 25 per cent and diesel engine fuel consumption by 10 per cent.

The new Kuga has been acclaimed by UK media, with Autocar magazine this week rating it ahead of five key competitors.

EURO NCAP IS ANNOUNCING THE TOP CHOICES FOR SAFETY AND THE RECOMMENDED VEHICLES IN THEIR CLASS.

In 2012, Euro NCAP published the results for 36 vehicles available on the European market. Six five-star vehicles performed highly in each of the four individual marking criteria: adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, pedestrian protection and safety assist systems.

The best in class of 2012, recommended by Euro NCAP for their outstanding safety performance are:

Renault Clio  Supermini

Volvo V40 Small Family

Ford B-MAX Small MPV

Fiat 500L Small MPV

Ford Kuga Small Off-Road 4x4

Hyundai Santa Fe Large Off-Road 4x4

BMW 3 Series Large Family

Ford Transit Business/family van

The FIAT 500L and Ford B-MAX are sharing the Best in Class honour in the Small MPV category. The Volvo V40 reached the highest combined score of any car previously tested by Euro NCAP. Whilst 26 five-star cars were released, one model achieved four stars and 8 received three stars. Last year’s underperformers were theJeep Compass and Renault Trafic, each of which was only able to score two stars against the latest set of requirements.

The runners-up of 2012 are the Ford Fiesta in the Supermini category; the Opel Mokka in the Small Family category; the Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid in the Large Family category; the Subaru Forester in the Small Off-Road 4x4 category, and the Range Rover in the Large Off-Road 4x4.

For the first time, Euro NCAP released comparative tests results in the popular category of Business and Family vans. The Ford Transit is the first van to achieve a Euro NCAP five star overall rating and to receive the best in class honour.The runners-up in this new category are the FIAT Scudo and its twins, the Citroen Jumpy andPeugeot Expert, all of which received three stars.