Car Registrations Remain Flat
New car registration figures have levelled out during September.
New car registration figures have levelled out during September.
Sales of 4×4 cars have risen by 13.4 per cent this year from 98,630 to 111,846 units, according to SMMT figures. While the market for new 4×4 cars continues to rise across the UK, the latest regional numbers reveal that in London sales are lower than the national average, only up 12.7 per cent from 5,616 to 6,331 units. From January to August 5.9 per cent of new cars sold in London were 4×4 off-road vehicles compared to a national average of 6.8 per cent. The total number of London new car registrations from January to August was 106,664 units.
Christopher Macgowan, SMMT chief executive, sugested that 4×4 drivers had been criticised for too long. “The idea that one in two new cars sold in London is a 4×4 is nothing but a myth. The reality is that the proportion is actually slightly lower than the national average. This is just one of the unhelpful stereotypes that are being used to berate drivers of this type of vehicle. Now we have revealed the facts about sales, perhaps we could start to have a more constructive dialogue about the kind of benefits that this type of vehicle offers new car buyers. I have invited the Mayor of London to talk to me about this but, to date, he has not been able to find time in his schedule.”
Figures released by the European automobile manufacturers association (ACEA) show that the number of new car registrations in Europe is in a slight decline. In total 831,805 cars were registered in EU and EFTA countries in August, 1.3 per cent less than the same time last year.
August bus and coach registration figures reflect a general fall in demand. At 12,597 the rolling year total fell at the end of August by 2.95 per cent. The shorter term, year to date figures show a 9.7 per cent drop over eight months. The figures, released through the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), reflect the view that operators are still not spending enough on new buses to hit the government’s fleet replacement target.
In contrast with the heavier vehicles figures, the number of light bus registration increased 23.3 per cent to 1,080. Coach registrations were also up 11.1 per cent to 832 for the eight months at the end of August. The rolling total of double deck buses was 1,378, 12 per cent less than last year’s figure. In spite of the decrease August figure is actually above the 200-2002 average of 1,206. The SMMT suggests that this is due to the fleet purchases of London buses.
As high-street retailers report a wet August and rising interest rates hit consumer sales generally, the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) today released figures indicating a rise in new bikes sales.
The SMMT has announced record commercial vehicle registrations for August. The rolling year total is 377,345, a record level measured against the 363,687 annual total in 2003. However it’s not all good news, August’s 18,199 registrations were down 5.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2003. There was also a small volume drop across most market sectors with this month’s bus and coach registrations down 17 per cent.
The society claims that year to date CV registration figures confirm record business demand for freight transport, in which the heavy van sector is still driving the figures. These figures follow “a big change in van and truck use patterns and the CV fleet over the past four years.”
Christopher Macgowan, SMMT chief executive, said: “August’s figures confirm record breaking demand for new commercial vehicles. August saw a pause in the recent long-running growth trend, but its impact was small.” He added: “We shouldn’t read too much about future trends from August’s results as the registration plate change in September means many operators wait for the new plate and its effect on residual values. This is illustrated by the fact that September CV registrations are now about 2½ times those of August.”
As well as bus registrations decreasing August’s truck registrations were also down 4.3 per cent, with the rolling year figure at 55,768. According to the SMMT annual truck registrations are still holding close to 56,000, though August saw some “very modest slippage.” For trucks over 15t gvw registrations dipped 10.8 per cent and for those up to 15t gvw there was growth of 6.0 per cent.
In summary the SMMT believes that the near term outlook is positive, but it predicts slower growth ahead.
BBS has released its consolidated first-half sales figures, which hold steady at 89.6 million euros. Growth outside Germany has seen the sales increase from the previous year’s figure of 89.4 million euros. However, due to dwindling business inside Germany EBT amounted to a mere 1.9 million euros.
In Germany, business volumes fell 3.4 per cent from 50.2 million euros to 48.5 million euros. Outside Germany, the wheel manufacturer boosted sales by 4.9 per cent from 39.2 million euros to 41.1 million euros. As a result, its share of sales outside Germany rose from 43.8 per cent to 45.9 per cent of its total sales.
In July UK car production dipped 3.8 per cent or 5500 units, but remains 1.1 per cent up over the course of the year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). At the same time new car registrations fell 4.6 per cent. Meanwhile diesel registrations equalled their highest ever-level occupying 32.5 per cent of the total market.
New passenger car registration in Europe reached 1,240,539 units in May this year according to statistics published by the ACEA today. These figures represent a rise of 1.2% in comparison with 1,226,000 units produced in May 2003. This marginal increase has been put down to fewer working days in most EU countries but also to declining consumer confidence in some countries. Cumulative figures for the first five months of this year show an increase of 2.8% in line with most predictions.
National figures for the month of May show increases in a majority of countries. Among the five main markets Italy (+12%) was the best performer, ahead of Spain (+8.9%) and France (+4.8%), while Germany (-7.3%) and the U.K. (-2.8%) posted decreases. Cumulative figures show increases in 11 countries with +2.7% in the U.K.
Registrations in the new EU Member States were down 5.6% with the Czech republic and Poland posting significant decreases, while Lithuania was the best performer.
The UK continues to lead the way in car sales as dealers throughout Western Europe enjoyed a mild recovery in March. Early sales trends show Britain outperformed other European markets with new registrations for the UK up by 11 % this year. A total of 466, 955 cars were sold in Britain during March. The German car market enjoyed a recovery with sales figures up 8 % to 345,000 units sold while France also saw an improvement of 5.6 % on the previous twelve months. Renault and Ford made the most significant gains within the UK market during March while Volkswagen topped the European market with an increase of 13 % as predicted by market watchers following discounts offered on the new Golf.
New passenger car registrations in Europe (EU-15 + EFTA) for January 2004 amounted to 1,173,273 units, representing a decrease of 1.6 per cent (-1.6 per cent in the EU-15) with respect to January 2003. The figures for the first month of the year show a contrasting picture from country to country: in some of them, there are clear signs of recovery, while in others uncertain economic conditions continue to prevail. This is well illustrated by the figures in the five main markets. While Germany (-12.4 per cent) and France (-11.9 per cent) posted decreases, Spain (+9.2 per cent), the United Kingdom (+5.8 per cent) and Italy (+5.6 per cent) showed a positive start of the year. Overall passenger car registrations in the eight main markets among future EU Member States grew 3.5 per cent. The two main markets, Poland and Hungary, both posted an increase of 5 per cent, while the Czech Republic saw a decrease of 9.8 per cent.
Western Europe new passenger car registrations for October 2003 amounted to 1.179.024 units, representing a decrease of 0.3 per cent with respect to October 2002. The number of working days in October 2003 was the same as in October 2002. This basically flat result seems to point towards a stabilisation of the market, in line with most economic indicators. National figures show increases in 7 out of 15 EU countries, ranging from +5.4 per cent in Luxembourg to +33.9 per cent in Finland. Spain was the best performer among the 5 bigger markets. Decreases ranged from -0.3 per cent in Italy to -11.6 per cent in the Netherlands and Denmark. Cumulative figures for the first ten months of the year show a closing up of the overall decrease, now -1.3 per cent. Five countries post positive figures, ranging from +0.3 per cent in the U.K. to +25 per cent in Finland. All other countries report decreases, ranging from -0.6 per cent in Luxembourg to -20.2 per cent in Portugal.
British motorists continued to flock to the car showrooms in May, when 208,669 new cars were registered. This marked the 20th consecutive month of growth in the car market and easily beat the previous record of 199,258 new registrations set in 1989.
Car makers in a lot of markets grieve over significant reductions in new car registrations. One should not forget that, for most suppliers, from whom parts are needed for the production of cars, the consequences are negative also. But not for manufacturers of light alloy wheels: a flood of special car editions and generally growing fitment rates – in comparison with steel wheels – means that the European aluminium wheel manufacturers are selling all that they can produce. New facilities are even having to be built. The aluminium wheel in original equipment changes from a part which raises the value of a car to standard fitment, even for middle class vehicles. In spite of these favourable conditions, the sector is under pressure. The middle-class structured alloy wheel manufacturers cannot resist the downward trend of prices, caused by the car manufacturers. This is especially so because the purchase of this product happens more and more on a global scale. Besides this, the number of possible oe suppliers of cast aluminium wheels is still enormous. A process of consolidation (as in other segments supplying oe) has not happened, until now.
The car fleet servicing market in the UK is a very tough business. The size of this segment become evident looking at new car registrations in the UK last year, 57% of more than two millions were fleet vehicles. In absolute figures the German market surpasses the British, but the proportion of fleet cars is less. The potential is enormous: Industry sources say that the average fleet car needs 1.8 tyres replaced a year, which gives a total market of 9 million tyres in Germany. And it should be remembered that fleet cars are normally newer than the average, travel more miles per year and fitment rates of winter tyres are higher than for private cars. A fleet service provider knows how much he has to pay for tyres per mile. It should be routine to ask whether the fleet has the right cars and the most suitable tyres, but could another model of car be more appropriate to the needs of the fleet because of how it is used? Car fleets need a mobile fitting network wherever the cars are driving. The tyre dealer carrying out the service on behalf of a leasing company must know the state of the tyres, has to ensure that they are at the correct pressure, has to identify the reasons for unbalanced abrasion patterns and has to fit the car with winter tyres before the first snowflakes fall. Whoever wants to participate in the growing market segment of car fleets has to be fully professional – and he has to invest money. For example, an integral component of car leasing or full service fleet management systems is the use of the Internet. All those involved in the package use the Internet as a communication platform and they want to reduce the costs for the fleet parc. Customers are very interested in quality; the package they anticipate is more than “only” good tyres. Car fleet servicing might be an opportunity, but not a cheap one.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.