The Scrappage Incentive Scheme accounted for 12.2 percent of the March market and 14.4 percent over the first quarter. The scheme closed at the end of March and, while just under a further 20,000 units will be delivered in the coming months, the loss of the incentive and continued uncertainty over the economic setting are expected to result in a marginal decline in volumes over the remainder of the year. All sales types reported growth in March as they have through 2010. Again, it was the private sector that posted the largest rise, up 33.5 percent in the month and 37.8 percent in quarter one.

“The UK motor industry has enjoyed a better than anticipated first quarter of 2010,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive. “A strong March performance was underpinned by the scrappage incentive and improving demand in the fleet sector. The coming months will remain challenging and  headline registration numbers are expected to dip, but underlying demand will continue to improve slowly.”

Most segments posted growth in March but the "mini" segment recorded by far the strongest gains, up 90.3 percent, and this helped Fiat to achieve 10,709 units for the month compared to 8,001 units during the equivalent month a year ago. This equated to a market-beating 33.85 percent year-on-year rise and it helped to raise Fiat's share of UK sales from 2.55 to 2.69 percent year-on-year although the best-selling 500 model dropped out of the market's top-ten best-sellers. Alfa Romeo added 1,364 sales in March, up from 1,114 a year ago and this added up to a year-on-year rise of 22.44 percent. It's market share however slipped very slightly from 0.35 to 0.34 percent. Abarth recorded 287 registrations in March compared to 228 a year ago, a year-on-year rise of 25.88 percent while its share of the UK market remained fixed at 0.07 percent.

Chrysler Group had a mixed month, the Chrysler brand managed 259 registrations which made it the Group's worst year-on-year performer down more than a third (-35.09 percent) against a market that surged more than a quarter, the only positive being that the 300C sedan model saw its sales rise year-on-year, while Dodge could only muster 169 registrations and was down 17.59 percent year-on-year. However the Jeep brand saw its sales double (+100.72 percent) to 558 units, although with more than half sales (329 units) being from the Patriot model the data has to be taken with a note of caution. Jeep's Grand Cherokee saw its sales rise year-on-year. Federico Goretti, Managing Director of Chrysler UK Ltd, registered himself pleased with this result, saying in a statement: “Despite challenging market conditions, I am delighted that Chrysler sales for March have been strong, a clear signal of the strength of our product range and appeal to customers.”