Registrations of new cars rose slightly in
August, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT),
ahead of September’s registration plate change.
Typically, August is the quietest month of the
year for new car sales but 59,433 registrations represented a 0.1%
year-on-year growth in the month, on the back of 3.3% growth,
year-to-date, to 1,260,997 units and
news last month the SMMT had revised upward its estimation for
total year sales to 1.97 million units.
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As in July, private registrations continued to
grow with 27,562 unit sales accounting for a 12.2% year-on-year
increase while fleet and business registrations combined dropped by
8.35% to 31,871 units.
Diesel and petrol engine registrations were
virtually neck-and-neck with 29,391 and 29,387 sales
respectively.
End of summer
Richard Lowe, head of retail and wholesale at
Barclays, said the minimal growth in August proved “it was only a
matter of time before consumer appetite for new cars eased,”
claiming the end of “a positive summer of sales.”
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By GlobalDataLowe, however, was more positive about
September, which accounts for an average 17% of new registrations
as, like March,
consumers scramble to purchase cars with a new plate
registration.
“Anecdotal evidence suggests that September’s
figures will show a strong bounce,” commented Lowe. “The draw of
the new plate change and attractive finance packages encourage more
buyers into dealerships.”
‘Hard to predict’
Motor Finance surveyed a
cross-section of UK dealers ahead of the September plate change
with many enthusiastic about the extraordinary amount of business
in August.
Tim Roelick of Border Cars, the seven-site
dealer group based in Scotland and the North of England, said: “As
this year is proving to be such a strange year in terms of car
sales, it’s hard to predict. For instance, we just had our most
successful August to date so it could go anywhere.”
Rob Stanley, finance manager at South Wales
Vauxhall specialist FRF Motors, said the group had a “fair number
of proposals more than last year, and more than in March”.
Meanwhile, Sandy Risk, business development
manager at Eastern Western Motor Group, covering 18 dealer
locations across Scotland, predicted business to be “roughly the
same as last year, the market is still tough and trading conditions
remain difficult.”
A full survey of car dealerships’
plate-change preparations and reactions will be published in
the September issue of
Motor Finance
magazine.
richard.brown@vrlfinancialnews.com
