The new car registration figures for July from the SMMT are broadly in line with Glass’s expectations and it is good to see that the market appears to be holding its own for the moment in a general climate of consumer concern.
However, it is important to note that private vehicle registrations have dropped noticeably this month and this is becoming a bit of a trend and something that reflects anecdotal market commentary gathered by Glass’s Editorial Team.
Consideration must also be given the fact that many cars are on 6 to 10 week lead times at the moment and the market may be seeing the tail end of vehicle orders placed in the run up to the referendum and therefore prior to the Brexit announcement. As such the market may well be weaker than the figures suggest, a point that has not been lost by the Bank of England who are concerned enough to have dropped the bank base rate and indicated a further reduction may be needed before Christmas.
The stability of the new cabinet under a new Prime Minister and the drop in interest rates may well be good enough to keep the market level but the coming weeks will be most interesting, said Glass’s.