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UK market struggles

Posted on 06 August, 2017

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) states that the market is falling for the fourth month in a row for new car registrations in the United Kingdom. According to the SMMT, registrations fell in July from the same time last year, by 9.3 per cent with about 162,000 vehicles sold last month. So far this year, 1.56 million cars have been sold, down 2.2 per cent from a year earlier. "The fall in consumer and business confidence is having a knock on effect on demand in the new car market and government must act quickly to provide concrete plans regarding Brexit," Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive says The government said last month it was to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 amid fears that rising levels of nitrogen oxide threaten public health. "While it's encouraging to see record achievements for alternatively fuelled vehicles, consumers considering other fuel types will have undoubtedly been affected by the uncertainty surrounding the government's clean air plans," Hawes says. Meanwhile, sales of electric and hybrid cars are growing with a market share of 5.5 per cent. This is up from a year ago when they only held three per cent of the market share.