Fleet sales were down 21.7% in February, with 92,528 new vehicles finding homes against 134,501 in the same month of 2008.

The overall market was down 21.9%, with retail down 22.3%, according to the SMMT.

Every brand bar four saw sales drop for the month year-on-year, some drastically.

Kia recorded a 71% drop, while Renault and Peugeot saw fleet sales fall by almost half.

Only Mazda, Toyota, Nissan and Fiat did better than in the equivalent month last year.

The two fleet forerunners, Vauxhall (-21.6%) and Ford (-16.8%), were in line with the industry.

Top 10 car makers
Manufacturer Feb 2009 Feb 2008 % change
Vauxhall 8077 10301 -21.6
Ford 6932 8329 -16.8
VW 3533 4857 -27.3
Audi 1847 2411 -23.4
BMW 1587 1881 -15.6
Toyota 1580 1186 33.2
Nissan 1419 1298 9.3
Peugeot 1138 2084 -45.4
Citroen 1020 1413 -27.8
Renault 959 1776 -46.0
Top 10 models
Model Feb 2009 Feb 2008 % change
Ford Focus 2808 3533 -20.5
Vauxhall Astra 2533 3997 -36.6
Vauxhall Corsa 2376 2134 11.3
Ford Fiesta 2078 1536 35.3
Volkswagen Golf 1267 2211 -42.7
Vauxhall Insignia 1110 0 n/a
Vauxhall Zafira 1008 1670 -39.6
Volkswagen Passat 828 1113 -25.6
Ford Mondeo 828 1459 -43.2
Volkswagen Polo 745 508 46.7