Car buying demand on ‘downward’ trend in December

By Tom Sharpe

4 January 2023

Demand from car buyers is said to be on a “downward trend” after retailers experienced declining sales leads in December.

New data from lead management specialists at iTrackLEADS has indicated that the number of enquiries made to UK car retailers fell by 10.3% in December against the same month in 2021.

Test drives declined by 7% and sales of new and used vehicles by 13%, according to the business which supports 600 businesses, while vehicle supply shortages contributed to a 31% fall in handovers.

Adrian Favill, director of iTrackLEADS, said: “We close out 2022 with a month where the market continued to tighten for new and used vehicles. The number of enquiries is a good measure of consumer confidence and demand, and the overall trend is clearly heading downward.

“In this market, it’s more important than ever to ensure that every lead is responded to promptly and professionally. Test drives are an essential part of the sales process, and dealers are becoming more adept at putting buyers in vehicles to support sales conversion rates.”

Yesterday (January 3) AM reported how Arnold Clark was prevented from completing its usual December car sales handovers after a cyber attack forced it to shut-down its systems as part of a bid to protect customer and supplier data.

Registrations data from the Society of Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is set to be published this week, giving a view of the new car markets sector’s performance in December and 2021 as a whole.

Despite 23.5% growth in November the new car market remained 8.8% below 2019 levels and the SMMT said last month that global and domestic economic challenges mean that the market “will remain below pre-pandemic levels”.

However, a recent report published by eBay Motor Group suggested that nearly half of all new and used car buyers expect to make a purchase at some point in 2023, despite the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

Its Consumer Insight Panel poll of 2,000 buyers, conducted in late November by independent research firm Insight Advantage, found 43% of buyers expect to purchase a car in the new year, while nearly a quarter (22%) think they will buy in 2024.