Aside from the anticipated removal of fuel duty, the UK motor industry has spoken of the lack of sectoral relevance to this year’s Budget.

Edmund King, president of the AA, tweeted: "AA welcomes scrapping of fuel duty hike with relief rather than joy", a sentiment shared by Stuart Kerr, chief executive of Ford Retail, who also warned high prices and fuel efficiency would continue to dominate consumer concerns, according to Motor Trader magazine.

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Ian Simpson, sales and marketing director at the RAC Warranty Group, acknowledged the move on fuel duty was forecast and added the Budget contained "nothing that is likely to have any real impact on our sector".

Simpson instead advised dealers to concentrate on "capturing increasing levels of aftersales work"

Perpetuation of the norm

Ken Trinder, director at dealership recruitment firm job-co-op automotive, agreed there was little for dealers in the Budget, which he felt was a disappointment given the growth in car sales in spite of economic conditions.

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James Tew, director at car finance and dealer technology provider iVendi, also added the prediction by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne that the economy would remain flat meant the best policy for dealers in the next two years would be to maintain the policies which have worked for them since 2008.

FLA SME note

The Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) has noted, however, the announcement by Osborne that three million unincorporated small businesses have the opportunity to offset lease rental costs against income tax instead of having to calculate tax capital allowances.

Julian Rose, head of asset finance at the FLA, said the Association had campaigned for the change.

"It has never made sense for small businesses to have to treat leased equipment as if they owned it and our research shows that many businesses lost out on tax benefits because they either didn’t understand the rules or have the profits to offset the tax allowances against," said Rose. "This change will help tens of thousands of businesses invest in new equipment through leasing."

richard.brown@timetric.com