UK car industry boosted by latest sales figures

The latest Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), report released yesterday shows new car registrations totalled 163,357 units, compared to 142,322 in April 2012.

With the UK automotive sector performing particularly strongly in recent years, its new car market continues to outperform EU27’s market performance.

“The UK new car market continues to perform surprisingly strongly, with volumes again increasing in April. While the headline increase was up almost 15% there were more sales days this year than last,” said SMMT interim chief executive, Mike Baunton.

Private registrations have also increased by nearly a third, now standing at 81,753 compared to last April’s figure of 61,816.

John Leech, UK head of automotive at KPMG, believes factors such as attractive discounts, notably the 0% finance schemes introduced to combat sharp decline throughout Europe, has been a factor alongside renewed consumer demand.

“These factors look likely to remain in place over the coming months, which should cheer manufacturers seeking refuge from the dismal performance of Eurozone car markets.  For car dealers, the picture is less clear,” he said.

“There are some early signs that the increased supply of ‘nearly new’ used cars is starting to put pressure on the buoyant UK used car market, which have been very profitable for dealers recently.”