Just blame the weather

The school summer holidays are officially here and traditionally it can be a mixed bag for the trade. If the sun is shining customers head off to the sun in the UK, if not they head off abroad. We are great in the car business at talking the job down at any instance and the weather is perfect for this; too hot and we are all having barbecues, too cold and we are all wrapped up sitting by the fire. The fact that car buyers can now carry out most of their research online means that every potential customer coming to the showroom could be a serious buyer.

Footfall in showrooms maybe down compared to the buoyancy of the first quarter but dealers are still selling cars and the quality of the business is, in the main, pretty good. Now consumers have worked out how the first round of government austerity measures will affect them they have had time to assess whether they can change their car and more importantly what budget they have for doing so.

Interestingly many commentators have observed the 4wd market which has normally tailed off well before now is still hanging in there albeit with less steam than before, but prices have definitely softened and better deals will be done around now than at any other time this year.

Convertible season is now at its height but there will be a maximum of another couple of weeks where top money will be paid before the demand starts to decline in line with the drop in temperature and the nights closing in.

People are still very much looking for value and eco friendly diesel cars which attract little or no tax and have superior mpg figures are at a premium.

Sales promotion time is upon us and dealers will be looking to replace ageing stock with fresh cheaper examples so the keen price pointing will mean there will be some great deals to be had. If car buyers track the models that most people are interested in it could lead to gaining an advantage when choosing their next model.

Dealer finance is again looking very competitive, we have seen deals as low as 2.5% flat on fairly low balances so money calculators are definitely worth looking at although it is worth remembering that dealers will charge an upfront admin fee and another fee at the end of the agreement which can run into hundreds so it is important to add these figures up when comparing.

All in all we look forward to a hot sunny period with renewed optimism, and after the positive figures about the state of the economy recently, if nothing else, there may be a slight feelgood factor that things may not be quite so bad after all.