Credit line is pulling UK sales along

PCP deals have driven up UK car registrations by nearly 10% last month.

The new car market recorded its 42nd consecutive month of growth in August – albeit in one of the year’s quietest months – according to figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

New car registrations increased 9.6% to 79,060 for the month, taking year-to-date growth to a healthy 6.7%.

The SMMT said the continuing success was due to the growth of personal contract plans which gave users a fixed payment figure for a known length of time.

A spokesman for the Finance and Leasing Association said about 75% of registrations came from PCP business with traditional HP accounting for 18%, leasing 5% and personal loans 2% according to their latest figures.

The SMMT reported gains were made across all sectors and all fuel types, with registrations in the private, business and fleet markets up 7.2%, 11.8% and 12.1% respectively.

The market for alternatively-fuelled vehicles, meanwhile, grew 52.3% year on year, maintaining a steady 2.4% share of the overall market.

In Wales last month, 2,573 new cars were registered a rise of 5.93% over 12 months earlier.

Following a slightly calmer July, the new commercial vehicle market picked up the pace in August, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Overall registrations increased 15.3% year-on-year, while van demand rose 14.3%. The biggest growth was enjoyed by the truck sector, with registrations up by 20.2%.

Western European car sales jumped 9.6 percent in August, boosted by buoyant demand in Germany, the UK and southern Europe, LMC Automotive said on Friday.

New-car registrations rose to 701,245 last month, data compiled by the company showed. LMC makes its forecast for Western Europe based on published national registration figures and smaller market estimates.

Leading automotive economist Prof Garel Rhys said the really significant point about the August sales was that the VW Group of marques for the first time passed 20% of UK registrations, a feature not seen for over 30 years when BL and then Ford hit that level.The result puts VWG on a par with their European counterparts.