By Lucy Penn

This month there’s been lots of talk about car sales within the industry – with many manufacturers recording a rise in sales. March was the last month of the Scrappage Scheme however – so whether or not this trend continues next month remains to be seen. The latest manufacturer to release their impressive vehicle sale results are Mazda who have seen year-on-year growth in 14 European countries.

In both Poland and Hungary the amount of Mazda sales set records – with a 14% increase in all. Hungary also achieved its best monthly sales ever which is great news for the motoring brand. In the UK the brand also did well as it achieved its second-highest volume for passenger car sales. 10,200 units were sold in all.

The new Mazda2 and Mazda3 have sold particularly well since they were released – it seems as though motorist’s hunger for smaller, ‘city-cars’ is still going strong. The Mazda2 has had a great start since it was introduced to the market, by firstly being crowned as the ‘Car of the Year’. It’s small, easy-to-drive and park, it’s green and stylish!

Small cars did far better than saloons and estate cars during the Scrappage Scheme so now that the government-funded scheme is over it will be interesting to see how the sales of these particular type of cars perform.

What’s most likely is that the motoring public will look out for vehicles that are the most fuel-efficient – as the huge increase in petrol prices has ensured that motorists keep a close eye on their vehicles miles-per-gallon figures…