Britain’s car dealers are calling on manufactuers to supply them with a new series of small cars.
Dealers overwhelmingly back calls for a new class of small cars to be introduced across Europe that attract lower taxes, insurance and parking costs, new research shows. Paris this year moved towards making SUV drivers pay more to park in the French Capital as they take up more space and other cities are considering a similar move.
Ninety three percent of car retailers surveyed in February’s Startline Used Car Tracker support the idea, which is based on Japanese “kei” cars and has been mooted by the European Automobile Manufacturer Association and the component suppliers CLEPA.
Ford stopped making its most popular small car, Fiesta, in July 2023 after 22 M were built since 1976 and ended Ka production in 2021 so it currently has no baby cars in its range dominated by SUVs.
Of those questioned, 72% say that the move would allow more people to buy and drive a car, while 62% point out that small cars are always popular with buyers and 41% that they would be ideal for city use.
There was hardly any disagreement among dealers who took part in the research but 5% did say that there were already plenty of good, small cars available.
Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said, “Japan has had kei cars since just after the war and they account for about a third of new car sales there. They are restricted in size, weight and engine capacity but bring lower road taxes and insurance, and also avoid certain parking restrictions.
“The ACEA idea is that a new class of small car similar to this, electrically powered, would provide a new option for European buyers and encourage uptake of smaller, zero emissions cars, especially in urban areas.
“Our research shows that dealers overwhelmingly back the idea. Car retailers are the people at the sharp end of motor retail and believe that such vehicles would find a ready market among used car buyers.”
