UK’s car shopping spree sees 25 months of unbroken credit-fuelled growth

UNITED KINGDOM
Britain’s car sales boom, can it last?
UK’s car shopping spree sees 25 months of unbroken credit-fuelled growth
Published: Thu, 01 May 2014 17:45:45 GMT
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After navigating some of the most treacherous stormy seas for close on two decades, Europe’s carmakers were treated to yet another nugget of good news from the UK, where car sales have now risen for 25 consecutive months. After rising during each and every month for the past two years, sales this March ended with a bang, thanks chiefly to higher demand from private buyers

Typically the biggest car sales month of the year, March car sales in the UK soared 17.7 per cent to 464,824 units, which marks the far and away hottest car sales streak seen in the UK so far this year.

Other than that, and yet another sign of strengthening UK consumer confidence, the strong rate of growth seen in the UK this March also underlines consumers’ willingness to take on debt.

53.1%
New cars sold this March were bought by private buyers

Dealers’ tills were kept ringing chiefly because more of Britain’s cheque-ready private buyers were tempted into richly stocked car showrooms.

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal that 53.1 per cent of the new cars sold this March were bought by private buyers.

This compares with 51.7 per cent during the same month last year.

Rekindled interest from private buyers was also the story of this year’s first quarter, with figures showing that the robust double-digit car sales expansion seen during the first three months of this year was fuelled in the main by private buyers.

Whereas demand from Britain’s fleet business rose 8.7 per cent during the three months to March, demand from private buyers during the same spell rose by more than twice that rate...more

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DATA AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS WITH THIS ARTICLE:

UNITED KINGDOM new CAR sales:

by manufacturer and marque
MARCH 2014 v MARCH 2013
3-MONTHS 2014 v 3-MONTHS 2013

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53.1% New cars sold this March were bought by private buyers

53.1%
New cars sold this March were bought by private buyers