• New car registrations in Europe fell in April from a year
ago, the first year-on-year drop for 10 months.
The figures, from the European Automobile
Manufacturers’ Association, Acea, show 1.14m cars were registered,
down 7.4% on last year.
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Demand in the car retailing sector is due to dip in
the summer but dealers with strong used and after-sales businesses
could see growth, according to a leading financial analyst.
Mike Allen, a research analyst at the stock broker
Panmure Gordon, said the car sector is not out of the woods yet
even though leading companies, including Pendragon, Inchcape and
Lookers, have recently posted financial gains for the first quarter
of 2010.
• Waves of nearly new cars coming onto the used
market are pushing down prices. The increase in volumes is “the
biggest threat to overall price stability”, according to the
CAP Black Book.
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By GlobalData“We have consistently identified late plate supply
as a critical factor in the residual values strength of the market
after the lessons of last year’s dramatic upswing. Increased late
plate supply weakens values and this ripples down through the age
bands,” the book said.
“There are now signs of an increase in nearly new
supply and this can be seen in the volume of sub-12 month stock
advertised on one online source rising by 20% between April and
May.
• Volumes of used cars fell back in May for the
second month in a row, according to Glass’s Guide.
The guide said that, although dealers had been very
careful to try and match stock to retail demand, some cars had been
left on forecourts. The shortage in manufacturer supplied late
plate cars continues and dealers have had to widen their search,
leading to increase in interest in premium auction sales.
Similar, but less pronounced, concerns exist for
dealers of some mainstream manufacturers like Volkswagen, Nissan,
Toyota and Volvo. Glass’s said the market was “shrouded in
uncertainty”.
• US car giant General Motors has reported its
first quarterly profit in nearly three years, $865m (£593m).
• A ‘Greener Company Car in Action’ event will be
the first chance to get behind the wheel of some of the latest
low-emissions cars on sale in the UK. Several major manufacturers
have already signed up for the event taking place at the Millbrook
Proving Ground, Bedfordshire, on 29-30 June.
• The CBI has called for an immediate freeze in the
public sector pay bill for two years and re-engineering of public
services to help get the public finances under control.
After a decade in which the economy has been driven
forward by government spending and unsustainable growth in the
financial sector, the CBI argues the growth engine for the future
has to be powered by private sector investment and trade,
• HPI has launched a
short-term insurance solution and fleet management diary for dealer
loan vehicles. Currently, if dealers loan cars to their
customers using an existing motor trade policy, they could be
risking their premiums, says HPI. Now HPI has created HPI
Readycover, a short term insurance for dealers and their
customers.
