F&I Management & Training

Registrations of new cars rose slightly in August, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT), ahead of September’s registration plate change.

Typically, August is the quietest month of the year for new car sales but 59,433 registrations represented a 0.1% year-on-year growth in the month, on the back of 3.3% growth, year-to-date, to 1,260,997 units and news last month the SMMT had revised upward its estimation for total year sales to 1.97 million units.

As in July, private registrations continued to grow with 27,562 unit sales accounting for a 12.2% year-on-year increase while fleet and business registrations combined dropped by 8.35% to 31,871 units.

Diesel and petrol engine registrations were virtually neck-and-neck with 29,391 and 29,387 sales respectively.

End of summer

Richard Lowe, head of retail and wholesale at Barclays, said the minimal growth in August proved “it was only a matter of time before consumer appetite for new cars eased,” claiming the end of “a positive summer of sales.”

Lowe, however, was more positive about September, which accounts for an average 17% of new registrations as, like March, consumers scramble to purchase cars with a new plate registration.

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that September’s figures will show a strong bounce,” commented Lowe. “The draw of the new plate change and attractive finance packages encourage more buyers into dealerships.”

Motor Finance surveyed a cross-section of UK dealers ahead of the September plate change with many enthusiastic about the extraordinary amount of business in August.

Tim Roelick of Border Cars, the seven-site dealer group based in Scotland and the North of England, said: “As this year is proving to be such a strange year in terms of car sales, it’s hard to predict. For instance, we just had our most successful August to date so it could go anywhere.”

Rob Stanley, finance manager at South Wales Vauxhall specialist FRF Motors, said the group had a “fair number of proposals more than last year, and more than in March”.

Meanwhile, Sandy Risk, business development manager at Eastern Western Motor Group, covering 18 dealer locations across Scotland, predicted business to be “roughly the same as last year, the market is still tough and trading conditions remain difficult.”

DATED: 11.09.12

FEED: MF