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Final confirmation of the degree to which self-registrations are distorting the new car market has come from ASE and Glass’s.
ASE’s latest monthly composites show how self-registrations impacted the March plate-change with profits in the month slipping 3.2% to £96,000.
Importantly ASE said dealers sold approximately the same number of cars this March as they did in March 2014, yet the official SMMT figures showed retail sales up 2.7% and the total market up by 6%. This is clear evidence of dealers resorting to self-registrations to meet what sounds like inflated Q1 manufacturer targets.
This was borne out by new Glass’s research which shows a glut of nearly-new cars in the market. It found the number of sub-one year old cars sold in the UK during March was 91% higher than six months ago.
Self-registrations have their place but dealers now face the daunting challenge of selling a growing backlog of nearly-new stock against PCP-backed brand new cars, while still turning a profit.