The new car market is up 1.2% in July with 1.5m vehicles sold in the year to date. With the introduction of Worldwide Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) in September 2018, we expect a strong month for new and nearly new sales vehicle sales in August as consumers will have the opportunity to find good deals in the sector.
New passenger car registrations remained stable with registrations up 1.2% in the UK in July, in total 163,898 new cars were registered. Alternative fuel vehicles continued to grow by 21% during the month. Diesel registrations fell by -24.4%, whilst petrol demand was up 20.1%. Demand from private buyers was up 0.1% on the same month in 2017 and registrations by fleet businesses fell by -10.2%.
It is important to consider that a number of factors such as WLTP and VED have been affecting the market this year and will continue to do so over the next few months.
Despite the decline of diesel, sales of alternative fuel vehicles continue to grow substantially, but their market share is still relatively small. With the introduction of the new emission testing from September, new, compliant diesel cars will remain an appealing choice for new car buyers who regularly drive long distances.
We now look forward to a stronger than usual performance next month.
If you would like to receive the monthly registration figures please contact louise.woods@rmif.co.uk
