New cars March on

Well it’s the 1st of March again and it’ll be interesting to see the amount of 11 plate cars on the roads of Britain today. According to our sources there will not be as many as last year but of course this is a post scrappage world and also, as delays in production in many factories have caused deliveries to be put back by several months in some cases, the impact of new reg month is likely to be somewhat diluted as a result.
There will still be that sense of excitement however as many buyers will still be keen to get their new car home and on the drive as quickly as possible, presumably this is so they can impress the neighbours. That’s if any of the neighbours actually notice that the car has a new reg. With the changing of plates becoming ever more baffling even sales people are unsure of the next plate change without checking and it’s obvious the new plate does not have anywhere near as much significance as perhaps it used to.

Certainly, from a dealer perspective, they have sold many new cars in February. Indeed there have been customers taking delivery of new cars right up until last night such is the ambivalence towards the ‘new’ plate for the 1st of March. In addition as the difference in depreciation appears to be nowhere near as severe as it would once have been there is not a compelling argument for buyers to pay a premium to have an 11 plated car. Basically the attitude is a new car is a new car whatever the plate and if buyers can be incentivised to take a car on a 60 plate and save some money, many will and are doing just this.

Of course it is, and always will be, an exciting time in the life of the sales exec who will at least have a few customers on the 1st day who are genuinely excited to collect their brand new 11 plate cars.

These sales execs will still find that apart from September there should be a heavier feel to their pay packets than the rest of the year.

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