September just isn’t happening! Well that’s according to many car dealers across the land who are saying that their September new car order bank is half of what it should be.
There will almost certainly be a drive by many car makers to introduce large volume into the market by pre-registering cars which is unfortunately one of the things that caused the severe distress felt during “carmageddon” at the tail end of 2008.
The intense competition for a lack lustre customer base is likely to mean that at least the buyer looks set to benefit and we are already seeing deals with 5 years 0% finance and free servicing and insurance. Offers like these will only improve as dealers look to entice customers into their showrooms.
Without scrappage car dealers and manufacturers will need to be pretty creative to sell the metal when the new 61 plate comes out in a few weeks. A Ford dealer we spoke with suggested that he would expect, at this stage of August, to have around 80 forward orders for new cars and that he would look to sell a further 50 during the month. However this year that figure is so far less than 25.
He pointed out that the economic gloom and the effect of a reduction in public servants is costing him many opportunities. In addition he explained buyers really are looking to save every last penny and are buying used cars and often older cars which our dealer traditionally doesn’t stock.
He said ‘even with fantastic finance incentives which make buying a new car an attractive purchase, buyers who are worried about their own financial security and jobs do not want to saddle themselves with a monthly payment and want the best car they get for cash, and of course as we make money from finance and insurance products it is almost a double whammy”
Carmeggedon 2 The Return? We sincerely hope not.
