“The new car market reached a total of over 2 million vehicles registered in the year to date and is now down by -3.9% on last year, in line with forecasts. The figures are lower year on year as a result of the record September in 2016, however the new car market still remains at historically high levels,†said Sue Robinson, Director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers in the UK, commenting on the latest SMMT’s registration figures.
New car registrations declined -9.3% in September to 426,170 units. Year to date, the market is now -3.9% down on 2016 which equates to 2,066,411 million cars registered. Sales of alternative fuel vehicles continue to grow by 41% in September, petrol registrations grew by -1.2% and diesel fell -21.7%.
Robinson continued, “Consumers walking into the showroom need more clarity on issues such as diesel and air quality. We are working closely with car retailers to assist them in educating their customers.
“Consumers also need to feel confident in the economy when embarking on high value items such as motor vehicles.
“On a positive note, the used car market has shown incredible signs of resilience which can partly offset the current decline in new car sales.
“As we enter the final quarter of the year, we expect the UK new car market to continue to perform at these levels.â€
