VW utterly dominated the fleet diesel market in August, grabbing a massively impressive 22.5% of registrations, compared with 14.2% for the year-to-date.

Top 10 models – diesel fleet registrations
Ranking Model August 2006 August 2005 % var
1 VW Passat 1413 983 43.7
2 Ford Focus 1145 1228 -6.8
3 VW Touran 999 289 245.7
4 Vauxhall Astra 926 1245 -25.6
5 VW Golf 848 1062 -20.2
6 Ford Mondeo 674 910 -25.9
7 Audi A3 612 644 -5.0
8 Audi A4 597 594 0.5
9 Vauxhall Vectra 569 722 -21.2
10 Citroen Picasso 428 361 18.6
Top 10 manufacturers – diesel fleet registrations
Ranking Manufacturer August 2006 August 2005 % var
1 VW 4151 3178 30.6
2 Ford 2472 2723 -9.2
3 Vauxhall 2113 2363 -10.6
4 Audi 1535 1476 4.0
5 Renault 1002 935 7.2
6 BMW 980 1292 -24.1
7 Peugeot 954 1193 -20.0
8 Toyota 764 699 9.3
9 Citroen 729 670 8.8
10 Skoda 631 643 -1.9

The market was down 1.0% as a whole, yet VW achieved a 30.6% growth, also grabbing three of the top five places on the top models chart.

It was a tough month for the big two, with Ford down 9.2% and Vauxhall down 10.6, while Audi climbed to fourth and Skoda made a rare foray into the top ten, rounding off a good month for the Volkswagen Group.

The VW Passat’s improvement over last year reflects the fact that the new model was still coming on stream this time last year, while almost 90% of Touan registrations were diesel. A good month for Corsa and Zafira saw them both nestle just outside the top ten, along with Peugeot’s 307 SW, the seven-seat version that beat its hatchback sister car.