The UK new-car market declined in the first month of the year, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), with 163,615 cars ‘driven off’ forecourts in January — a fall of 6.3% compared with January 2017.
Demand fell across the board, with registrations by business, private and fleet buyers down 29.7%, 9.5% and 1.8% respectively.
Meanwhile, continuing the trend of recent months, dual-purpose cars (SUVs) were the only vehicle segment to see growth, with demand up 6.6% to account for a fifth (20.2%) of all new car registrations.
Demand in all other segments fell, with the biggest declines affecting the mini, MPV and executive segments.
Registrations of petrol and alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) rose by 8.5% and 23.9% respectively, although this growth failed to offset a significant decline in demand for new diesel cars, which fell by 25.6%.
Mike Hawes, SMMT (
www.smmt.co.uk) chief executive, said: “The on-going and substantial decline in new diesel car registrations is concerning, particularly since the evidence indicates that consumers and businesses are not switching to alternative technologies but keeping their older cars running.
“Given that fleet renewal is the fastest way to improve air quality and reduce CO2, we need government policy to encourage take-up of the latest advanced low-emission diesels; for many drivers, they remain the right choice — economically and environmentally.”
Meanwhile, the UK’s new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market fell by 4.2% in January, equating to 888 fewer vans compared with January 2017.
Car-derived vans weighing less than 2 tonnes saw demand fall by 28.9% (against January 2017), while the rest of the market remained steady, with pick-ups and large vans falling by 2.3% and 1.8% respectively, and medium vans (weighing 2-2.5 tonnes) increasing by 1.2%.
Engine production reached the record level of 2.7 million units in 2017, with demand growing both at home and abroad. UK engine manufacturing is now worth £8.5 billion and supports 8,000 British jobs — 3,350 in diesel engine production alone.