UK car market held steady in July, but Land Rover demand slumped
Demand for new cars in the UK has held steady, new figures reveal, thanks to dealers offering a string of deals to try and tempt customers.
But the country's car industry is still struggling to counter steep falls earlier in the year and diesels remain out of favour – sales of diesel cars fell for the 16th month in a row in July, down by more than 24 per cent.
Instead, car buyers are switching to petrol or to alternatively fuelled vehicles such as hybrids and electric cars, which saw a 21 per cent hike in demand last month although they still only account for 6.5 per cent of the total market.
Overall demand for new cars rose by 1.2 per cent last month. Some 163,898 new cars were registered in July compared with 161,997 during the same month in 2017, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
Registrations are down 5.5 per cent this year compared with the first seven months of last year.
It proved a mixed month for most car makers, none more so than West Midlands-based Jaguar Land Rover, which makes its engines in Wolverhampton. While demand for its luxury Jaguars inched up by 1.5 per cent to 2,234 cars sold during the month, sales of its big Land Rovers slumped by 27 per cent, down to 3,843 compared to the 5,265 sold in July last year.
A big winner during the month was Volkwagen, which saw it sales jump 19 per cent and its Golf and Polo were among the top three most popular cars in the UK, behind the Ford Fiesta.
The SMMT said the performance of the UK car market was "broadly in line with expectations as demand begins to level out".
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "The feel-good factor from a sun and sport-packed July, combined with some fantastic deals on a raft of exciting new models, clearly helped keep showrooms relatively busy last month.
"It's great to see alternatively fuelled vehicles benefiting from this growth, and Government's acknowledgement of the vital role new-tech diesel will play in its Road to Zero strategy should help even more motorists benefit from the latest, safest and low emission technology over the coming months."