British Drivers Steering Away From New Cars In Their Droves

It seems British car-buyers are turning away from new vehicles in their droves. According to Joe Wright in the Telegraph we’re looking to a future with more and more people driving older and older cars, matching the nation’s ageing population:

Trusty motors from the 2000s and early 2010s such as the Peugeot 107, Ford Focus, Honda Jazz and Vauxhall Corsa are still a very common sight, with owners refusing to put them out to pasture.

In fact,16 million of the 34 million motors on Britain’s roads are more than a decade old. Experts believe this will continue to increase in the years to come thanks to Labour’s unrelenting war on motorists.

“People are definitely spending money to keep their cars on the road as opposed to upgrading,” explains Umesh Samani, Chairman of the Independent Motor Dealers Association. “The majority just want a car which gets them from A to B, and it’ll stay that way.”

The reluctance to buy means the average car is now 9.4 years of age. That’s a 42% rise from the average 6.6 years in 2003, according to insurer Green Flag.

It seems it’s a long-term strategy on the part of some drivers:

“People are already planning these things in their head. They know that down the road, there won’t be a choice of petrol, so they’re thinking ‘well, this could be my last one so I’ll keep it longer’.”

So much so, the number of shiny new cars sold to families and individuals has plummeted by almost 450,000 in the past eight years, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) trade body.

Look back less than a decade and the scale of the collapse in new car sales is remarkable:

A total of 701,964 cars have been sold to private buyers so far this year, compared to 772,589 in 2023. It’s a huge slump from the record 1,138,610 sold in 2016.

It’s not hard to see how the Government is pulling out all the stops to discourage buying cars – even their beloved ‘planet-saving’ EVs – as part of what increasingly seems like a wider policy to crash the economy:

Rachel Reeves announced in her maiden Budget that Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates will be increasing from April. She also announced that electric vehicles (EVs) will no longer be immune from the levy, while bills for petrol, diesel and hybrid cars will rise by at least £100 and as much as £2,745.

Meanwhile, car manufacturers are doing their bit to sell fewer cars too:

The appetite for hatchbacks rather than SUVs is evident in the used car market, with the Ford Fiesta being by far and away the most-bought second-hand car, with 308,000 sold in 2023.

Samani adds: “People want little cars like that as a runabout, but they’re not making little sports cars any more. There aren’t many of what I call desirable cars on the market, and people aren’t particularly jumping up and down to buy EVs.”

Conversely, recent used cars are so much more reliable they are realistic prospects for far longer than in yesteryear:

Nowadays, well-made cars from the 2000s are lasting longer. They remain mechanically and electronically simpler than newer cars, and, in most cases, are relatively economical to keep on the road.

Some old bangers, likely made by a reliable Japanese or Korean brand, can run like a Swiss watch even when they are decades old.

Worth reading in full.