It has been a month of halves with two weeks of unexpected silence in the showrooms resulting in many staff being furloughed in the absence of customers. Service departments and smaller garages are working to keep key workers mobile and safe with their transportation needs and the insurance industry is still largely active. Dealers still have a shop window and many eyes browsing vehicles on … [Read more...]
More buyers looking at used cars
It is positive to see that the used car market grew in the last quarter of the year, said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association. The used car market saw a growth of 2.4% in the last quarter of 2019 with 1,804,343 transactions. Overall in 2019, the used car market finished almost on par with the previous year with a marginal decline of -0.1% and a total of 7,935,105 … [Read more...]
Diesel demand is still strong in used sector – Cazana
Consumer demand continues to slacken and prices are softening, but there are surprises about the performance of diesel in the trade, writes Rupert Pontin, Director of Insight at Cazana. Just days after new car sales figures showed continuing weakness, the retail expert has looked at the situation of second hand cars. July is an interesting month at the best of times with market conditions driven … [Read more...]
Car makers say new diesels are desirable
New data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association provides evidence that latest-generation diesel cars emit low pollutant emissions on the road. It was measured in real-driving conditions by the drivers of the various national type approval authorities. Some 270 new types of diesel cars type-approved against the latest Euro 6d-TEMP standard were introduced on the European … [Read more...]
New car sales plunge 20% in September
The UK new car market fell by -20.5% in September, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. It reported 338,834 vehicles were registered in the month when the new registrations plate came into force, down around 87,000 on the previous year as new testing requirements continue to affect supply and distort the market. The impact was felt across the board, with … [Read more...]
Newslines 29 September
Ford and VW will deepen their relationship with production and component parts, say Reuters, quoting companies spokesmen. Ford stock has sunk 24% this year and is now trading at a near six-year low as a new CEO Jim Hackett was brought in to make strategic cuts and changes including working more closely with VW in Europe and Mahindra of India. VW has told German Government it will make … [Read more...]
EU to fine UK for dirty air and diesel-gate
Britain faces a multi-million pound EU fine for failing to act over diesel-gate and high NO2 emissions. The UK and five other EU member states must pay fines and on-going penalties for breaches of air quality, revealed T&E. It was adjudged breaking NO2 limits and allowing car makers to get away with selling illegally polluting cars, while others states did the same or were found with … [Read more...]
Government is clouding diesel issue and hurting sales
Consumers need to be given better quality information about diesel cars including from the Government and inconsistencies in Government policy needed to be removed to repair damage done to the new car market. That’s the opinion of Glenn Sturley, chairman of the Vehicle Remarking Association, who said, “The messages about diesel that the Government has given out in the last year or so are, at … [Read more...]
Diesel decline accelerated last month
Diesel’s decline continued on new car forecourts last month. It was the 12 consecutive month of falling sales but an inflated registration spike in March 2017 to beat tougher emissions requirements and tax rates has distorted the tables for March 2018 although the underlying trend is bad for diesel. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders today show a 37.2% drop over … [Read more...]
Elephant on car forecourts needs moving
There is an elephant on car forecourts, says one industry observer. The Government must stimulate the switch to hybrids and electric cars with the collapsing sale of diesel and a general slowdown in new car sales, said Alex Buttle, director of car buying comparison website Motorway.co.uk. "Again flagging diesel sales are the recurring and seemingly unsolvable problem. Petrol and AFVs sales … [Read more...]
