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Car sales decline slows as scrappage incentive helps
publication date: Jul 7, 2009
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author/source: Robin Roberts
UK car sales fell by 15.7pc in June compared with the
same month last year, according to the latest industry figures.
The
number of new cars sold in the UK during the month was 176,264
units, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The fall is the
14th consecutive decline in new car sales but was smaller than the 25pc drop
seen in May.
The
SMMT said the UK's scrappage subsidy scheme had "clearly been having a positive
impact on the market". |
This
was evidenced by the much larger share of sales going to mini and supermini
models and small petrol models being very popular at the expense of hybrids and
diesels.
Private sales actually went up almost 4pc in the month and for the first time
since November 2007 as individuals cashed in on the scrappage incentive.
While
Ford significantly gained volume and share, close rival Vauxhall lost out
badly.
| | "Big bus registrations may have
peaked, buoyed-up by last year's strong orders," said Paul Everitt, SMMT
chief executive.
"Manufacturers
are very cautious, seeing falling activity and orders across the sector.
Coach registrations are still falling but we hope for some stability over the
coming quarter. By contrast, the minibus sector is feeling harsh economic
pressures.
"We
expect van registrations will stabilise at the end of the next quarter, but at
the lowest levels since the early 1990s," said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief
executive. "Trucks could drop further in the fourth quarter after
the Euro 5
emissions deadline passes in October. The commercial vehicle market
continues to reflect the very difficult conditions facing business buyers,
particularly those in the freight transport and construction sectors." |
June
top ten in Britain were: Fiesta, Focus, Corsa, Astra, Peugeot 207, Mini, Golf,
Mondeo, Insignia and BMW 3 Series.
In
Wales, the best sellers were: Fiesta, Focus, Astra, Corsa, Mini, Mondeo, 207,
Suzuki Alto, Peugeot 308 and Hyundai i20.
| | | | "Today's report from the SMMT indicates that
the scrappage scheme is making small inroads for the UK's struggling car
insurance industry said comparison analysts uSwitch.
"However,
the issue of vehicle depreciation has still not been addressed. The fact
remains that consumers participating will completely lose the £2,000 incentive
after just 88 days[1] of owning their brand new car. This means that
the 60,000 consumers that already signed up will lose £379 million[1]
in depreciation by June 2010 - an average of £8,321 each.
"This
is particularly an issue for those buying the Ford Focus, the second best
selling new car last month. These consumers will lose £8,635 (51pc) of
the value of their car by June 2010. Just last week, Ford announced 12,000 orders
under the new scrappage scheme representing 20pc of all 60,000 orders placed
under the scheme to date.
"To
ease the depreciation burden for consumers, we would like to see the Government
dig a little deeper. If their contribution were to be increased £1,000 to £3,000
making the total discount £4,000 off of every new car purchased, the first year
depreciation of £8,321 would be almost halved. This could really help the
industry hit the 1.5 million participant target and reduce the total
depreciation bill from £9.5 billion to £6.5 billion for these consumers in the
next 12 months." |
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