Comment on SMMT car sales data

Alex Buttle, director, of car buying comparison website Motorway.co.uk comments on recent SMMT used car sales figures:

"Although used car sales dropped slightly in the last quarter of 2017, overall, the past 12 months has been a roaring success for the industry.

“The used car market has remained buoyant at the expense of the new car sector, which is facing challenging times.

“Second-hand car sales have boomed in the shadow of the faltering new car market, as price-conscious consumers are clearly eschewing old over new.

"And with the new VED tax rates kicking in from 1st April 2018, this huge tax rise on many popular new car models could push even more people to used car forecourts with open wallets.

"As for the past 12 months, booming sales of AFVs and positive growth for diesel, are the stand-out figures.

"The demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles is now shooting up faster than Elon Musk's Tesla rocket, as we enter a new era of clean motoring.

"AFVs are the future and the new VED tax changes make electric even more appealing against the old guard. Used AFV sales can only go one way too with more cars coming onto the second-hand market.

“And who would have thought there'd be some good news to report on diesel? After a torrid 2017 for new diesel car registrations, there’s finally something positive in used diesel sales figures.

"Used diesel sales have inevitably been buoyed by tumbling prices in the second half of the year on many popular models.

"Prices are likely to continue to fall in the short term, and we expect to see strong diesel sales through the first half of 2018 at least, as new car registrations struggle to recover.

"The switch from new to old, which now feels like a steady movement, could pick up momentum if inflation rises and the threat of higher interest rates negatively impacts the car finance industry." 



Simon Benson, director of motoring services at used car website AA Cars, comments:

“The used car market experienced a slight dip in transactions in 2017, but this is nothing like the decline seen in the new car sector last year.

“These figures suggest that a lack of consumer confidence and widespread confusion has rippled out and damaged the market as a whole.

“In spite of these figures, this doesn’t seem to have driven buyers away from the market entirely - indeed, some fuel types have seen a notable uplift in demand.

“With sales rising 3.3% last year, it appears the used diesel market hasn’t been quite so badly affected by the negative press surrounding 'dirty' diesels.

“Sales of alternatively fuelled vehicles were also up significantly - most of which will pay no vehicle excise duty whatsoever - closely mirroring the surge in demand seen in sales of new cars last year.

“If dealers work hard to reassure drivers about their car buying decisions - and restore some of the confidence that has been lost following mixed messages from the government - then we should expect to see a slow but steady uplift in used car transactions.”

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