2017 - Key buying trends for cars and vans

30th Jan 2018

A Summary for 2017

What a year!

For Cars down 5.7% YoY.

Was 2017 the turning point for Diesels…. Did the Governments announcement of the end of combustion engines 2040 and fears over pollution mark the beginning of the end!

With numbers down 17% YoY the numbers were not pretty and a swap to Petrol was clearly evident.

Cars SMMT Summary 2017

Source SMMT 2017

Overall though, a drop of 5.7% for the overall market after many years of growth year on year certainly marks a realisation that growth can go down as well as up!

Alternate Fuel vehicles, to give it its proper name was the only bright spot with a 34.8% uplift, but from a slow base this will take some time to catch up  …. or will it. Is 2018 the year of electric maybe. If you were not thinking of it maybe it is time to start!!

If we look at who is buying cars, private buyers are certainly leaving the market or are they …. Increasing numbers are moving to PCH (Personal Contract Hire) as this form of finance continues to grow. As a lease product the numbers show up as fleet purchases (the purchaser being the lessor) as opposed to PCP, a purchase product ie the consumer buys on day one.

Fleet is down slightly but remains consistent, business outright the largest faller YoY provides more insight into how businesses are increasing looking at lease type solutions.

For Vans –  down 3.6%

The main winners were pickups and smaller vans reflecting the benefits of pickups from a taxation BIK perspective and also the increasing levels of parcel distribution as the “gig” economy starts to grow with the increasing role of self employed drivers some of the key trends.

Vans SMMT Summary 2017

Source SMMT 2018

For further information link to www.smmt.co.uk