According to the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) new car registrations rose during April which is the tenth successive month we have seen an increase. This on the face of it is great news but these figures are based on a like for like basis with 2009 which we all know was terrible for the motor industry and related industries.
So what of the future?
We are indeed in interesting times with some of the Euro zone looking to be increasingly fragile, Greece already in deep trouble and Spain and Portugal looking vulnerable as stringent spending cuts need to be made. Other EU states and the IMF already making provisions for billions of Euro's to pumped into these weak economies if the need arises. What about good old blighty, just coming to terms with the news that we have the first coalition government since the second world war and saddled with a debt mountain of biblical proportion. Well despite all of this here in the UK new car registrations were up by a very acceptable 11.5% with 8% being made up of the extended scrappage scheme. To put this into numbers 148,793 new cars were registered in April.
Even more encoraging is the fact that vehicles built in the UK actually out paced the market and grew by 25%, so the car industry in the UK is looking strong and healthy. Based on these new figures the 2010 registration forecast has been increased to 1.924 million units,still significantly behind the heady heights of 2007.
What does this mean for independent Car Leasing and Contract Hire brokers?
Well the fleet and small business sector has been slower to get going than the retail market mainly due to the scrappage scheme, however there are positive signs that both fleet and small businesses are beginning to want to replace both cars and vans. You may have seen my recent blog where the van market is also showing positive signs of improvement. As the majority of car and van leasing independant brokers rely heavily on these two sectors for the majority of their business, through out 2009 many found trading difficult, again this was coupled to a major changes with some of the key leasing funders decidingto withdraw or reduce their operations in this sector, see previous article Car Broker market hit by funders withdrawing from the market. However from the reports I have been getting things are looking much more positive, with many brokers reporting increased levels of business and funders beginning to release more capital into the market.
During a recent meeting with one of our adverisers, ''St John Everitt MD of West MidsVehicle Leasing stated, ''the demand for new cars seemed to be building and we have had a record month in April. There are issues around....read more
Great article.
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