UK new car registrations still growing post-Brexit – up 3.3% in August

New car registrations in the UK continue to grow post-Brexit, with figures for August 2016 up by 3.3 per cent, driven by fleet sales.

The received wisdom was that if we voted for Brexit then car sales would be just one area of the economy where everything would go Pete Tong. But it’s not happening.

True, voting for Brexit doesn’t mean Brexit is actually happening (that’s at least two years away), but the Pound has taken a bit of a battering since the vote and you might expect buyers to steer away from major purchases until they know which way the wind is blowing.

But although car purchases are often quoted as “The second biggest purchase you’ll ever make”, that’s very much a thing of the past, with most buyers opting for a fixed monthly payment for a new car – just as they would with a mobile phone contract – and swapping it out for a new model on a regular basis.

That change in mindset in recent years makes the new car market less volatile and less subject to economic ill-winds(assuming Brexit is an ill-wind), so it’s no real surprise that new car registrations for August 2016 stay firm.

Overall, according to SMMT,  sales are up by 3.3 per cent, with private purchases falling by 0.2 per cent and fleet sales up by 7.7 per cent.

That slight anomaly is explained by Fleet buyers less influenced by the plate change next month, and more eager to grab better finance deals after the recent rate cut. Private buyers are hanging on for this month’s 66 plate, so it’ll be interesting to see what the figures for private buys in September are.

SMMT boss, Mike Hawes, said:

August is traditionally one of the quietest months as consumers look ahead to the September plate change, so growth, albeit small, is good news.

With showrooms full of exciting models featuring the very latest technology and a raft of affordable finance options, it still makes economic sense to consider buying a new car.

The key to maintaining this strong market is consumer confidence for which we look to government to deliver the conditions for economic growth.

The August figures also showed a clear win for Ford – the Fiesta was the best-seller followed by the Focus – followed by Vauxhall with the Corsa and Astra.