Car Registrations Remain Flat

New car registration figures have levelled out during September. This month’s figures, released by the SMMT show that between January and September the number of new car registrations increased at a rate of 0.3 per cent. In the SMMT’s diplomatic words, the September 2004 market “cooled” two per cent to 430,763 units.

Commenting on the September new car market, SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan said: “We need to be clear that demand for new cars remains strong. However, it is inevitable that a plateau would be reached after three record years and it appears that further growth this year is unlikely. The impact of rising interest rates and the effect on consumer demand from a cooling housing market has, no doubt, accelerated the slowdown in the new car market in the last few months. In an intensely competitive market, new car buyers can expect some great deals in the next few months and despite modest reductions in volume, we still expect to be close to last year’s record when more than 2.57m new cars were registered in the UK.”