New vehicle sales hit a 40-year low

The motor industry endured its weakest August for new car sales since 1966, it was revealed today.

Sales of new cars slumped to 63,225 last month as cost-conscious consumers steered clear of “big ticket” purchases.

The sales were down 18.6 per cent year-on-year, bringing the total year-to-date decline in new car registrations to 3.8 per cent, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

August is traditionally a slow month, with many consumers putting off buying a car until the new number plates are introduced in September.

The August fall, which accounts for a quarter of the total decline seen so far this year, has raised concerns that the consumer spending downturn is deepening.

But one Shropshire dealership is bucking the trend, with Toyota dealership William A Lewis saying new car sales are holding up despite the credit crunch.

Sales manager Lee Broomhall said: “We are on target for new car sales, our problems is used cars. People are still coming through the doors, but I think we’re around 15 per cent down, which is almost all down to used car sales.

Constraints

“June was fine, July was terrible, August has been worse but you expect that as people are waiting for new registrations but certainly buyers are being more careful.

“Cars are costly purchases, if you don’t pay your gas bills, you won’t have any heat, if you don’t change your car, you’ll still get to work.”

He added most of the firm’s customers were over 50 without the same financial constraints as families.

General sales manager for Greenhous Vauxhall in Telford, Derek Higginson, said orders were beginning to pick up.

“Obviously it’s a tough market. We don’t expect to put much out in the way of new vehicles in August anyway. We did start quite slowly but orders are starting to lift.”

Record fuel prices are also affecting the car market, with the SMMT figures showing that more fuel efficient diesel models are now more popular, accounting for 43.2 per cent of all new car sales in the year to date, up by 6.3 per cent.

The SMMT said it now expected new car sales to plummet by about 10 per cent in the final four months of the year and has revised its forecasts down to 2.26 million sales this year.

The best selling models last year were:

1. Vauxhall Corsa;
2. Ford Focus;
3. Vauxhall Astra;
4. Volkswagen Golf;
5. Ford Fiesta;
6. Vauxhall Zafira;
7. BMW 3 Series;
8. Citroen C4;
9. Ford Mondeo;
10. Peugeot 207.

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