Aug 17 Car Registrations

Aug 17 Car Registrations

19th Sep 2017

After a mixed July people were looking forward to the August figures to see where the latest figures were heading. Recently announced, the figures are showing the fifth month of consecutive decline with a 6% decline in August YoY. Year to date, the figures are showing -2.4% down on last year which is broadly in line with expected trend for the year with wider uncertainty in the economy. Overall on the face of it a decline but as expected.

Within the fuel types Diesel continues to take the brunt of the decline down 21% YoY and 11.5% for the year to date. In July, these numbers were 20% and 11% so the decline is not increasing but remaining steady.

Petrol last month was down 3% YoY, but on a year to date basis was up 4.2% so Petrol is increasing its market share up to 52% of all new vehicles.

Alternative fuels continue its growth with 58% YoY and 32% for the year to date. So, as expected the publicity and recent announcements about moving to greener fuels is certainly beginning to resonate with the wider public.

Looking at who is buying cars; private, fleet and business all showed YoY declines with business demand down 11%, followed by private at 10% and fleet at just over 3% down.

For a year to date picture, private is showing the biggest decline at -5% with business at .4% down and fleet stable at 0.

So, in summary, diesels are still struggling, alternative fuels gaining share albeit from a low base. For buyers, fleet is still strong but private is slowing as consumers are starting to reign in their appetite for new cars. Let's wait and see what September brings and with the new plate a key time for the motor industry.