"It is encouraging that new car sales increased in April with private registrations continuing to improve" said Sue Robinson, Director of the RMI National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, commenting on the SMMT's new car registration figures.
As motorists deal with the rising cost of petrol, new research from Auto Trader's latest Price Index, which tracks the average prices of used cars in the UK, shows that the average asking price of used cars from January to March 2012 actually fell 3.9 per cent year-on-year to £8,891.
"The increase in retail car sales highlights the early signs of a more stable market" said Sue Robinson, Director of the RMI National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, commenting on the SMMT’s new car registration figures.
New car sales figures show month on month sales were up 1.8 per cent compared to March last year. Private registrations showed one of the best monthly increases in the past two years, up 7.4 per cent in March.
On 27 March the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, or ACEA, released its figures for commercial vehicle registrations during the month of February. These show demand for new commercial vehicles to be weaker in all major markets, with EU registrations declining 11.3 per cent year-on-year. The major market downturn ranged from 3.2 per cent in France to 29.9 per cent in Italy; the UK experienced a 16.6 per cent decline in total new commercial vehicle registrations. In total, 126,010 new commercial vehicles were registered in the European Union during February 2012, while UK registrations came to 11,102.
Nexen has been awarded the Red Dot Design Award 2012 for its N9000 tyre. “Our N9000’s competitiveness is proven by its latest win, as the Red Dot Design Award 2012 is widely known as one of the world’s top three global design accolades,” said Lee Hyun Bong, CEO of Nexen Tyre. “This is a great achievement for our design strategy as it comes so close after Nexen’s other wins, the IF Design Award 2010 and Good Design Award 2011.”
In January, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed 16-month high figures in car manufacturing, and its February numbers support the view of KPMG automotive partner, John Leech that production will “strengthen in 2012”. Year on year figures show that manufacturing rose 23.5 per cent in February, making the year to date 19.6 per cent above the same two months in 2011. Commercial vehicle output meanwhile fell slightly by 2.7 per cent, down 2.0 per cent over the first two months of the year.
"February 2012 sales figures saw a dip in the overall commercial vehicle market after a period of strong recovery in 2011. While truck registrations continued to rise, up 26.4 per cent in February, van registrations fell by 26.4 per cent" said Sue Robinson, Director of the RMI National Franchised Dealers Association which represents commercial vehicle and franchised car retailers across the UK, commenting on the SMMT's van and truck registration figures.
Mercedes-Benz UK has maintained its record 4.8 per cent market share in February and year to date (YTD), according to figures from SMMT. February 2012's new car registrations showed an 11.0 per cent increase for Mercedes-Benz, to 2933 new cars. The year to date figure of 9,182 vehicles is a rise of 17.2 per cent, compared with the first two months of 2011. During the same period the overall new car market was down 0.7 per cent.
The total bus and coach sector grew significantly in February to 519 registrations, up 73.6 per cent, with the year-to-date up 39.9 per cent, says the SMMT. Registrations of purpose-built buses and coaches rose 121.7 per cent in the month and 72.6 per cent for the first two months of 2012. Converted bus registrations were up 32.3 per cent in February, and 8.7 per cent for the year-to-date.
"Although the new car market was down last month, it is positive to see an increase in private registrations highlighting that consumers are slowly coming back to the market." said Sue Robinson, Director of the RMI National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, commenting on the SMMT’s new car registration figures.
ACEA, the European Automoblie Manufacturers' Association, has published figures showing that, in January, demand for new cars dropped by 7.1 per cent in the EU, compared to the same month a year earlier. In total, 968,769 new registrations were recorded in the region, with on average one more working day than in January 2011. These figures exclude Malta, for which data was unavailable.
John Leech, partner in KPMG’s automotive practice has suggested the recent upturn in UK car manufacturing could suggest that the sector will lead the country’s economy back to pre-financial crisis growth. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed car production rising in January 2012, with 15.6 per cent more manufactured cars on January 2011. The figure comes on the back of increased demand for British-made cars in growth export markets.
Figures from the SMMT reveal something of a mixed bag for sales of commercial vehicles in January. Compared to January 2011, van registrations fell by 16.4 per cent, to 14,338.
The DVLA's first auction of Personalised Registrations for 2012 got off to an explosive start when a mystery businessman paid nearly £80,000 for the registration DH11 LON.
Expectations surrounding the personalised registration were high, especially as Dhillon is a popular Asian surname, but no one predicted the hammer would come down on such a huge sum during the first day of the Agency's three-day sale.
Michelin North America has opened registrations for the 2013 Michelin Challenge Design competition and announced that this latest round will address weight reduction through design – a subject the tyre maker says is “becoming a new battleground in the struggle for increasing fuel efficiency.” Participants in the 2013 Michelin Challenge Design, which is titled ‘Half! Lightweight with a Passion’, have been set the task of exploring lightweight vehicle development by designing a family vehicle.
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