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September’s official car sales totals only tell part of the story.
While the headline figures show a 21.2 per cent tumble on last September’s totals and a 7.5 per cent fall in the year to date, the final figures still do not show the true state of the market.
The talk behind the scenes at the Paris Motor Show was about the high level of what’s euphemistically called “manufacturer activity” during the last week or so of the month.
In the bad old days they were called pre-registrations but, as we all know, these are not allowed any more and do not happen.
However, during the worst economic downturn in generations the market mysteriously rallied from 30 per cent down during the closing days of the month.
The inconvenient truth is that metal was pumped into the market by some brands, who really should know better, with dealers being offered massive discounts to take on unwanted stock which they are no doubt now selling as ex-demonstrators and wondering why October sales are looking so dismal.