Fleet new car registrations soar in June. Fleet Voice

By Alisdair Suttie 21 July 2010

Wednesday 21 July 2010. Fleet Voice Column Summer is here and the warmer weather has helped fleet registration blossom by a blooming 25% in June. This is good news all round as it heralds returning confidence to the market and also suggests the UK Plc is feeling more chipper about life in general. What does this tell us about the bigger picture? Well, it’s still very tricky to tell, though it appears that the first true green shoots of recovery are tentatively poking their heads above the ground, even with the dark murmurs of a double dip recession. A significant development is that business sales overtook retail sales for the first time since the Scrappage Scheme was in effect, recording 51.3% of total registrations in June 2010. These are still turbulent times for business and the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) need to be regarded with caution. Some surprises in the figures for June show business life is yet to settle into its more normal routine, though it is also encouraging. Perhaps the biggest surprise thrown up by the June figures is that Vauxhall has outstripped Ford’s fleet sales. Not only did Vauxhall outdo its arch rival, it comprehensively beat Ford to the top spot. In June, Vauxhall registered a considerable 22,018 cars, including all fleet and retail sales, while Ford trailed with 13,379. This still left Ford in second spot overall, helped by the Fiesta recording the highest overall registration for the first half of 2010. Ford has explained away this chasm in June registrations by saying it made a conscious move to cap short-cycle rental business to shore up residual values. Even so, Ford will be smarting from such a comprehensive drubbing from its key competitor with a performance akin to the England football team in the World Cup that coincided with this sales period. Perhaps Ford is just waiting for the new football season to get underway and put this period behind it. Vauxhall Leasing Deals On the other hand, Nissan has played a blinder with its Qashqai scoring fifth spot in overall June registrations, with plenty of fleet business to help its successful run. The Qashqai notched up an impressive 136.3% increase in sales compared the same month in 2009, despite the cessation of the Scrappage Scheme, so it looks like crossovers and SUVs are far from a spent force in the minds of British drivers. Nissan Leasing Deals However, the biggest percentage increase in registrations belongs to the all-conquering Vauxhall brand with its new Astra racking up a 141.4% improvement in sales compared to the same month last year. Admittedly, the 2010 Astra is an all-new model to replace 2009’s version, which always helps when trying to shift tin. Even so, it’s a strong showing from Vauxhall and it will be hoping to carry this momentum into the second half of 2010. Let’s not get too carried away, though. Paul Everitt, chief executive of the SMMT, said: ‘The industry still expects challenging economic conditions in the second half of the year and government action to improve access to credit for consumers and businesses will be important in sustaining the momentum of recovery.’ Everitt is still cautiously optimistic and added: ‘The new car market continued to perform above expectations in June, with fleet sector registrations up 25% compared to this time last year. The results indicate improved business confidence and a strengthening economic recovery.’ This is exactly the sort of quiet confidence business needs, and the world as a whole craves, to stave off the threat of a double dip recession and steer us onto a stable path to recovery. It’s very likely that new car registrations will slip in the second half of 2010, dropping from the first half’s overall 1.1 million sales. Don’t be despondent and remember that sales were shored up by the tail end of the Scrappage Scheme at the start of 2010. On current form, industry experts reckon overall new car registrations for 2010 should touch the 2 million mark, which is a whole lot better than many of the doomsayers were predicting 12 months ago. It’s also worth bearing in mind that business sales, which are those recorded for companies with a fleet of 25 or fewer cars, were also up by 18.4% in June compared to the same month in 2009. This means small businesses are beginning to feel confident about dipping into their pockets to replace company cars and vans, and we should all take solace in this. One final bright spot to give business users a boost in their confidence in the business car world is that alternative fuel vehicles, which include hybrids such as the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius, were also up in June 2010 compared to June 2009. These cars marked the occasion by matching their best ever market share of 1.2%. This might be a small slice of the overall cake and many of these registrations will go to retail customers, but it shows they are doing their bit to underpin the economic recovery. More importantly for business users, diesel registrations were also up, driving the growth in the June 2010 figures and strongly suggesting British business users are replacing their existing company cars. It would be foolish to get carried away with a single month’s registration figures. However, they are an encouraging sign in tough times. Let’s just hope for an Indian summer for business and the economy. Alisdair Suttie

Categories: Fleet news , Fleet Voice

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