“Too early to gauge true Brexit impact on car market” – Close Brothers

Chris Bosworth, director of strategy at Close Brothers Motor Finance, comments on the SMMT UK Registration figures for July: “These figures indicate that the automotive sector remains resilient in the months after the UK’s decision to leave the EU, with the small growth in registrations helping the sector recover from a flat performance in July. The increase in overall registrations has been helped by the growth in demand of alternatively-fuelled vehicles and growth fleet sector markets, which saw significant year-on-year and monthly figures for August.

“However, the total figure continues to disguise the performance of the private sales market where, for the fifth month in succession, we have seen a drop in customers buying new cars. This may be in part due to the timings of the calendar year – August is traditionally one of the quieter months in the new car market, with most drivers waiting until the September plate change to buy a new vehicle. As such, and despite the figures being a positive indicator, it is still too early to gauge the impact that Brexit is truly having on the market.”