Movers and shakers putting in a claim for your money on the new 15 plate

It was the fourth biggest-selling year of all time, with only 2002, 2003 and 2004 seeing more new cars finding new owners. It finally seems that we have shaken off the last vestiges of the recession.

The UK in particular did well, growing 9.3 per cent over the previous year, ahead of the EU average of 5.7 per cent. We're the second biggest market in the EU for new cars, behind Germany, but comfortably ahead of France, Italy and Spain. The trend line showed steady increases throughout the year, with December's 8.7 per cent rise the 34th consecutive month of growth.

There was also huge growth for plug-in car market, which saw volumes quadruple from 3,586 in 2013 to 14,498 in 2014. Okay, so that's still a tiny percentage of almost two and a half million but it's a start. But what about the wider market? What's been scoring big and what can we look forward to for the 15 plate?

All-conquering

Ford have double-teamed the top of the sales charts with the all-conquering

Fiesta and the heavily revised Focus, but they'll be looking over their shoulder to see what the new Vauxhall Corsa, the car in the bronze medal position, can do. With a

fresher face and a revised chassis, it looks set to give Vauxhall's bottom line a shot in the arm.

Volkswagen's Polo is another car that is sure to attract a lot of interest with the updates to its range, the GTI model looking like a vehicle that's finally ready to step out of the shadow of the Golf. Audi's updated A1 looks as if it has the capability to break into the UK Top Ten, with 40,000 sales pretty much guaranteeing inclusion.

MINI is a brand that's really pulling itself up by the bootstraps and those who love the quicker variants will love the latest John Cooper Works hatch. This pocket rocket really ups the ante in third generation guise, delivering 231PS, a chassis that has been forensically fettled, lots of the JCW good stuff inside and a price tag that's far from unreasonable. Get in quick. There's going to be a queue for this one.

Ford's Mondeo might not be the heavy hitter it once was in the sales charts but don't overlook the latest fourth generation car, bigger, glitzier and quite befuddlingly economical. In particular, take a long look at the 2.0 TDCi 150PS diesel model. It gets to 62mph in 9.4 seconds, yet will return almost 70mpg on the combined cycle. Pricing has been kept reasonable and equipment levels are strong enough to give the premium marques something to seriously worry about.

Another car that is perennially there or thereabouts is the Citroën C4 and that's been given a wash and brush up of late. The French middleweight hatch works smarter rather than harder this time round, with a styling refresh, some super-economical engines slotted into the range and an interior that nudges its way quite markedly upmarket. If you're not afraid of thinking outside the box a little, this is a car that earns an easy recommendation.

Hyundai's i30 is a car that also impresses in its latest guise, ushering in more efficient engines, a zippy Turbo model, a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission and some classy styling updates. Hyundai has come a long way very quickly, but it's hard not to be impressed by the maturity of this i30's execution. The i40 saloon and hatch have also come in for a modest fettling and make a sound choice if you're looking for value.

We must admit to being wholly intrigued by the Mercedes-Benz GLE, the company's take on the BMW X6 SUV-coupe theme. It'll either be brilliant or an utter train wreck and we can't wait to get some seat time to find out which. It's certainly not boring. Neither is the forthcoming Mercedes-AMG GT supercar. They claim it's not a direct replacement for the barnstorming gull-wing SLS, but it sure looks like one to us.

Porsche is keeping us on tenterhooks regarding the 911 GT3 RS, but those looking to put their money across the desk of a Porsche dealer could do a lot worse than the Macan junior-SUV. We all thought it would be a badge-engineered Audi Q5, but it's nothing of the sort. There's a whole lot of Porsche in that car's genome.

BMW's M235i is a triumphant return to form after the mild disappointment of the M4, but if you're after a small coupe with real punch, don't overlook Audi's 310PS TTS quattro. Forget what you thought you knew about the way TTs drive; this one's a new thing.

Finally, Land Rover have finally got round to pensioning off the Freelander and in comes the rather delicious Discovery Sport. With its clever and pragmatic 5+2 seating layout, nine-speed gearbox and punchy 190PS diesel engine, the Discovery Sport looks set to rule the roost in the prestige compact SUV sector.