The Registration of Cars Drops By 4.4%

The registration of cars in the UK dropped 4.4% in 2011 to only 1.94 million. This figure was published by the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders). While these figures do not look good for the motor industry they are actually better than expected.

The last and only time the figure has dropped below 2 million car registrations since 2000, was in 2009 in the middle of the recession. In fact if it was not for the government scrappage scheme in 2010, there would more than likely have been a drop in car registrations in 2010 as well.

This is a sure sign that less people are buying cars these days and that we are still suffering the effects of the recession.

The largest sector of the UK car sales is the business market, which accounts for 60% of all the new cars sold in the UK. Many of the cars sold to the business sector of the market were leased and car leasing also saw an increase in 2011.

Another sector which is on the rise is non petrol vehicles such as diesel vehicles. What has driven this growth is the rise in petrol prices which has driven people to look for more economical alternatives. Diesel vehicles offer a great solution to this by giving motorists a lot more miles to the gallon than petrol vehicles. And while diesel is more expensive and has also risen in price, it is still cheaper to run a diesel vehicle due to the increased efficiency. Also you can benefit from lower road tax on diesel cars.