NEWS

CAR production in the UK rose by 44 percent in April as fortunes for the industry continue to improve. To date, car production is up nearly 65 percent this year. It looks like the commercial vehicle sector is finally benefitting, too – UK build rates are up over 44 percent this year. ‘Output in April [...]

CAR production will return to 2007 levels in 2014 with an EU market of 20.4 million motors predicts the SMMT. This is a much more positive outlook than estimated a few months ago. ‘Although vehicle production volumes across Europe fell by more than 2.8 million units in 2009,’ said the SMMT’s Paul Everitt, ‘there is [...]

SCRAPPAGE scheme registrations are almost complete as the SMMT announces its latest update. Total registrations are now 395,500 – tantalisingly close to the 400,000 official total. Cars make up 388,540 of these, with 6959 LCVs also being registered through the scrappage initiative. This follows the ending of the scheme in March. SMMT chief exec Paul [...]

NEW car registrations in the UK rose for the 10th consecutive month in April by 11.5 per cent. Volumes were up on a very weak April 2009 with scrappage accounting for just eight per cent of that. The news comes in the same week the SMMT revised its overall estimation for the UK car market [...]

THE SMMT has revised its forecast for UK car registrations UP to 1.9m units after a strong start to 2010. It says total new car regiustrations are still anticipated to dip on last year, but added van sales are likely to rise. It predicts new car sales will dip 3.6 per cent to 1.9m units [...]

UK car production rose a record 90.2 per cent in March – the fifth consecutive monthly increase in a row. Output for home and export markets increased with cars built for the UKL market more than doubling – accounting for 27.6 per cent during the first quarter. ‘UK automotive production continued to make progress in [...]

SMMT chief Paul Everitt has called upon support for the UK car industry from any new UK Government. To help politicians make the right decisions, the trade body has thus launched its own manifesto. This will, he says, ensure many of the successful schemes that have already been running will continue to strengthen economic recovery. [...]

MARCH 2010 has been a successful month for many brands but what about those that didn’t do so well? Well, the top market share fall slots were dominated by beleaguered makers Corvette, Daihatsu and Hummer. Indeed, Hummer barely exists at all, and Car Dealer Magazine was first to report the woes of Daihatsu here in [...]

SCRAPPAGE is continuing to impact the new car market with total registrations hitting 372,401 cars. This was the figure at the end of March, meaning scrappage still accounted for 12.2 percent of new car registrations. It is good news for the Government, which has been working to ensure no orders get ‘lost’ in the system [...]

MARCH has been a positive month for new car sales, up 26.6 percent over March 2009, according to SMMT figures. Hyundai sold over 15,000 cars in March alone, more than half the total number they sold in the whole of 2008. Much of Hyundai’s success over the past year has been down to the scrappage [...]

CAR makers have rightly been falling over themselves to shout about their big new car sales gains for March… But one car maker is shouting loudest of all – Renault. The French brand has posted the greatest market share gain of all for March 2010, with Renault’s total shooting up a huge 1.8 percent. This [...]

FORD refuses to be budged from the new car best-seller chart with the Fiesta retaining its 2010 crown. 23,681 Ford Fiestas were sold, to give it the market-leading honours. What’s more, its margin of superiority over the 2nd-placed car was a staggering 5692 cars. And that runner-up car? Why, it was the Ford Focus… Vauxhall [...]

NEW car registrations continued to rise in March with SMMT figures revealing a 26.6 percent increase in sales. 397,383 new cars were registered during the month. Scrappage continued to have an effect, but it was not the key driver of sales: 12.2 percent of registrations were through scrappage. Instead, growing fleet demand is helping keep [...]

CAR production in the UK continues to skyrocket with February figures showing a huge 62.7 percent rise. This is the 4th successive monthly rise. Last month, 97,255 cars were built in the UK – and 70,482 of them were exported, which is good news for UK Balance of Payments figures. ‘The 4 month of consecutive [...]

GOVERNMENT chiefs have announced the 2010 Budget will be held on Wednesday 24 March. Confirmation from Chancellor Alistair Darling has got immediate response from the SMMT. In a pre-Budget submission, the SMMT called upon the Government to support long term investment for car makers and car dealers. However, as the scrappage scheme ends, chief Paul [...]

CO2 emissions fell by the largest ever amount in 2009 thanks to the effects of the scrappage scheme. The average new car emitted 149.5g/km CO2 – 21.2 percent less than in 1997. Furthermore, the average car sold under the scrappage scheme emitted just 133.3g/km, 26.8 percent less CO2 than the average scrapped car. It’s also [...]

FORD yet again leads the way for new car sales with latest February 2010 data giving it another 1-2. The Fiesta topped the new car sales charts with 3236 units sold. Ford’s Focus was 2nd with 3035 sales. In 3rd place, but more than 500 units behind, was the Volkswagen Golf with 2586 sales. That [...]

STRONG February new car sales have been boosted by the extension to the scrappage scheme say dealers. The RMIF says the decision to extend the scheme into March, coupled with last year’s extra funds for the scheme, means sustained demand has benefited showroom traffic. Scrappage sales accounted for more than 19 percent of sales in [...]

SALES figures for February have been released and continue to show a scrappage scheme boost. The market rose by 26.4 percent compared to 2009, with 68,686 new car sales. Scrappage accounted for 19.6 percent – making February the 8th consecutive month of new car sales growth, said SMMT chief Paul Everitt. As much of the [...]

SMMT support has been granted to the BIS managed rundown of the scrappage scheme which starts today. ‘It ensures the fairest means of distributing the remaining scrappage funding,’ sys the car industry body. ‘The quota system will ensure an orderly end to the scheme with buyers and manufacturers both having a clear understanding of available [...]