- January to September new car market remains up 0.3 per cent at 2,079,956 units
- September 2004 market cools two per cent to 430,763 units
- New car registrations are 19,606 units above 1999-2003 September average
Commenting on the September new car market, SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan said, ‘We need to be clear that demand for new cars remains strong. However, it is inevitable that a plateau would be reached after three record years and it appears that further growth this year is unlikely. The impact of rising interest rates and the effect on consumer demand from a cooling housing market has, no doubt, accelerated the slowdown in the new car market in the last few months.
‘In an intensely competitive market, new car buyers can expect some great deals in the next few months and despite modest reductions in volume, we still expect to be close to last year’s record when more than 2.57m new cars were registered in the UK.’
September 2004
The attached tables show the registration figures for Great Britain, Northern Ireland, The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands in detail. Top performers by range and UK penetration figures are also listed. Providing SMMT is acknowledged as the source of this information, the figures may be quoted. Substantial reproduction needs specific approval by SMMT.
Notes to editors
1.The twice-yearly plate change was first introduced in 1999.
2. New car registrations in the UK reached a record 2,579,050 units in 2003, up from 2,563,631 units in 2002 and 2,458,769 units in 2001.
