UK car market declines despite surge in diesel cars sale |
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Wed, 07 Dec 2005 20:05
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LONDON: The government’s decision to end the waiver of the 3 percent surcharge on diesel vehicles did not help to rev up overall new car sales, a report said yesterday.
The Society of Motor Manufacturing Traders reported a 5.8 percent drop year-on-year in car sales during November at 2.28 million units. This figure also represented the 7.9 percent drop in new car registration in the month to 158,474 units.
This will be the first time when the new car market in the UK will have slid below the 2.5 million units sales peak of 2000. However, the UK market will continue to be the second largest new car market in Europe in 2005, the SMMT said.
Private buyers were not lured to take advantage of buying before Jan 1 to avoid the 3 percent surcharge. But diesel car sales surged 42.2 percent as company buyers rushed to register.
The SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan said that the spike in diesel registration during November was already anticipated and December sales would show a similar trend.
Tracking the private market on a monthly basis revealed the sharpest drop of 15.8 percent in November since February.
Volumes of the Supermini and lower medium have declined marginally over the year-to-date but they continue to account for 61.7 percent of the market.
Among brands that remained ahead in the best-selling car race during November, was Ford’s Focus, with the Vauxhall Astra coming in a close second. Likewise, Focus diesel was also a top-notch performer at showrooms.
Among UK-built cars the general downtrend showed a 14.5 percent decline in sales during November and 10.6 percent slide in year-to-date volumes. This shortfall was due largely to the loss of MG Rover volumes.
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