Press Release: Motorists still planning to buy new cars despite difficult market

May 17, 2010

Motorists still planning to buy new cars despite difficult market

Good news for the car industry- it seems that the car buying public are still eager to buy brand new cars- despite concerns across the industry that new car registrations could start to drop later this year.

In spite of rising purchase and maintenance costs, rising fuel prices, political upheaval, a fragile economy and the end of the scrappage scheme, it was revealed that nearly half of visitors to car review website, RoadTestReports.co.uk intend to buy a brand new car this year. Through a recent poll on the website it was revealed that 42 per cent* intended to splash out on a new car regardless.

And while a large percentage said they would never buy a new car, the good news for the industry is that this figure seems largely unaffected by the withdrawal of the Government scrappage scheme or the introduction of showroom taxes. Only 5 per cent said they did not intend to buy a new car due to the introduction of new first year VED rates while a further 5 per cent said withdrawal of the scrappage incentive would stop them buying a new car this year.

The research reveals that motorists seem rather set in their intentions, whether they have dismissed the idea of buying new or not.

While the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has said it expects that monthly new car registrations will show marginal decline through the rest of the year, once the last few scrappage order cars are finally registered, the website’s research should provide a glimmer of hope for the industry that there are plenty of buyers out there.

RoadTestReports.co.uk spokesperson, Faye Sunderland comments: “Our research shows that motorists are very keen-minded and tend to know what they want long before they reach a showroom. It is also positive news for the industry; while competition for sales is likely to be fierce the good news is that plenty of people are looking for a new car. The challenge facing the industry is offering the right product with the right incentive.

“We must bear in mind that not everyone who wants a new car could make use of the scrappage scheme when it was available. The end of the scheme presents new car buyers with a greater array of offers, providing more choice and in many cases a better deal too,” she added.

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Notes to Editors:

*RoadTestReports.co.uk asked 501 website visitors; ‘Do you intend to buy a new car this year?’ The full results were:

• Yes (42 per cent)
• No, I would never buy a brand new car (39 per cent)
• No, not this year but maybe next year (9 per cent)
• No, not with the showroom taxes due in (5 per cent)
• No, not now the scrappage scheme is closing/closed (5 per cent)

About RoadTestReports.co.uk: Launched in June 2007, RoadTestReports.co.uk offers road tests on all the major cars and vans plus consumer reviews. The website provides “featured” reviews written by motoring journalists and reviews from consumers who tell us exactly what it is like to drive the vehicles day-in and day-out and the real practical implications of buying them. Anyone can submit a review, which gives it great appeal to website visitors and vehicle manufacturers. Currently the website attracts over 230,000 monthly users and over 500,000 monthly page views; these statistics have improved month in, month out and will continue to improve as more feature and consumer vehicle reviews are added.

RoadTestReports.co.uk is owned and maintained by Really Good Domains Ltd, which runs more motoring websites than any other company in the UK. As the UK’s largest internet advertising and marketing company for the motor industry, Really Good Domains also run the popular websites ContractHireAndLeasing.com, TheVanWebsite.co.uk, TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk, CarSupermarkets.co.uk, SaveMoneyOnCars.co.uk and FleetDirectory.co.uk to name a few.

Contact: Faye Sunderland, fayes@reallygooddomains.com or call 0161 482 7650. Really Good Domains, Domain House, 4 Watchgate, Newby Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport, SK7 5DB. Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/roadtestreports

Author: Faye Sunderland, May 17th, 2010
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