Last year was definitely an excellent year for new car sales. It is reported to have hit a ten year high and has been the fourth highest on record and December was the 34th consecutive month to see growth, with a rise in registrations of 8.7%. The whole of last year saw a whopping 2,476,435 new cars registered according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, who released the figures earlier this month. This figure is only bettered by figures recorded in 2002, 2003 and 2004. It is also apparent that people are interested in the more environmentally friendly and economical electric cars, which saw an astounding surge in sales from 3,586 in 2013 to 14,498 units sold in 2014. Other factors that may have had a positive effect on sales include the cheaper price of oil, however, there is some doubt over whether that is the case. Phil Harrold, automotive partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers told City A.M. that the drop in prices was “too recent a phenomenon” to have had a significant effect at this stage. Harrold argues that lower prices would need to be sustained for a longer period of time before it would make a real impact on the sale of new vehicles.
The rise in new car sales has a larger impact on the UK economy as a whole. Of the UK’s top selling cars for 2014, three models are produced in the UK. The only country in the EU to better the UK’s record in new car sales was Germany, but Spain’s market is also improving and even experienced a bigger leap in car sales compared to the UK. It isn’t all positive for car manufacturers across the globe though. Although the Ford Fiesta was the bestselling car of 2014 in the UK, US manufacturer Ford did experience loss in the rest of Europe, and is expected to make losses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2015. Car sales in the UK are forecast to slow as well.
We’re interested to see how the motor trade industry fares in 2015. Are you involved in the industry? Tradex is one of the UK’s leading providers of motor trade insurance.
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