There is still new car demand
Automotive Industry Digest have covered the story of the surprising fall in Company Vehicle sales in March this year.
March’s 372,835 units bettered industry forecasts for the month by some 20,000 units or almost 6% and the outturn would represent 19.4% of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ full year forecast of 1.92 million units (set in January).
But, while private registrations showed one of the best monthly increases in the past two years, up 7.4% last month to 189,487 (March 2011: 176,443), fleet sales fell 0.5% to 165,576 (March 2011: 166,357) and business sector sales dropped 23.7% to 17,772 (March 2011: 23,301).
According to the SMMT,
…new car demand is being driven by the potential for cost savings with fuel-sipping, low-emission models particularly in demand highlighted by increasing sales of diesel (up 4.1% in March and 4.7% in 2012) and alternatively fuelled models (up 1.8% in March and 5.6% in 2012), while registrations of petrol-engined cars are falling (down 0.3% in March and 2.9% in 2012).
Other points noted by the SMMT
- March and quarter one volumes were lifted by recovery in the private market. The overall market rose by 0.9% in quarter one.
- The market shares for diesel and alternatively-fuelled vehicles continue to rise, reaching 50.4% and 1.5% respectively in quarter one, with volumes up 4.7% and 5.6% respectively on 2011 levels.
- Supermini registrations rose in both March and Q1, to account for 39.1% and 37.7% respectively of the market. The Dual Purpose, Specialist Sports, Executive and Lower Medium segments showed the best growth in March
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