According to one expert…
Driving showroom traffic in a tough market: “Used car sales were only down marginally when comparing Q1 2007 to Q1 2008 – just 1.1 per cent in fact. This represents a highly respectable performance. We should not ignore the pressures of rapidly rising fuel costs or the increases in road fund licence costs, but to date a shift towards smaller cars seems to be somewhat limited.
The reality from the SMMT figures is that across all segments sales have broadly been stable; with supermini showing some sales increases at the expense of executive cars; yet in the larger car sector MPV and dual purpose cars have actually seen growth.
The real loser has been the upper-medium sector. In what we all see as more challenging trading conditions it would be easy to think the worst – well we’re not and nor should the used car sector. This year at Carlyle Finance we have seen significant growth in sales, with more and more dealers engaging our help to drive showroom traffic, and successfully using F&I as a marketing and profit medium. The reality, as always, is that there are opportunities out there and we are committed to helping our customers to realise them.”
Mark Standish, CEO, Carlyle Finance
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