December new car sales could be a record

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Many insiders are reporting to us that footfall in showrooms and auctions appears to be brisk and, the same as in the US (Analysts predict a 15 percent increase in December for US new car sales), there is great anticipation that new car sales for December may well be a record.

The power of the message regarding VAT increases and price hikes are making a compelling case for bringing that new car purchase forward to take advantages of the very real savings that will exist before January 10th.

The flip side is that dealers who are traditionally quieter at this time of year are finding themselves in the position of having to deliver twice as many cars as usual which, although very welcome, is putting a strain on resources and of course having a detrimental effect on other parts of the business.

Some sales managers have commented that they would like to delay the registration of new cars until January but cannot do so and the fact that many of the deals being done now could well have been completed next year but for the price rises is causing some concern.

The general feeling we are getting from the trade is that used car sales will take up the slack shortly although there is a feeling that, unlike last year where prices were launched upwards from historical lows and the high demand ended up catching out many dealers, this year prices are still fairly high anyway. What this means is that although most dealers will need to re-stock their forecourts as usual there will be more of an opportunity to hold the margin which will lead to customers being even more vigilant when comparing prices and prospective deals to be had.

When the sales kick off over the coming week and New Year period trade will certainly be brisk and buyers should be able to take advantage of dealer’s bulk purchases which will lead to genuine savings.