Member Article

Car registrations drop in 2012

New car registrations are set to drop this year, signalling an uncertain few months for the car retailing sector.

December 2011’s new car figures showed a drop of 3.7% on the previous year, while total figures from the year were 4.4% down on 2012. Further economic and environmental factors could also impact organisations operation in this sector.

Commenting on the figures, Simon manning, head of manufacturing at Deloitte North East said: “There is no doubt that 2012 is going to be a tough year. I expect there will be a levelling off for sales in new and used car sales, both in the UK and more widely across Europe.

“Notwithstanding this, the low volume of new car sales over the last few years should ensure residual values remain firm despite tough trading conditions.

Deloitte have worked closely with the RMI National Franchised dealers Association tp understand and anticipate market movement, and research shows that new car registrations in 2012 will be relatively low, at around 1.84 million.

Retail sales are also set to fall slightly, but fleet sales will remain broadly static at 2011 levels.

Several manufacturers are still doing well however, notably Nisan in Sunderland and Ford, who reported one of their strongest years on record in North America.

He added: It’s encouraging to see some sectors within manufacturing still growing strongly, but there continues to be risk, and survival will depend on how manufacturers and retailers expect, plan for and manage this risk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .