TM says her ministers are 'ambitious', they want cake and eating it.
Brexit, for once some facts.
- Thread starter flecc
- Start date
With jam on both sides, and not get sticky fingers at the end of it?
Some numbers from last month.
Passenger car registrations November 2017/November 2016
Spain +12.4%
France +10.3%
Germany +9.4%
Italy +6.8%
UK -11.2%
Passenger car registrations November 2017/November 2016
Spain +12.4%
France +10.3%
Germany +9.4%
Italy +6.8%
UK -11.2%
Uk car market declines in November due to the confusion over Diesels.
https://www.smmt.co.uk/2017/12/uk-car-market-declines-november-confusion-diesel-continues-impact-market/
Here are the numbers for electric vehicles in France, in French but the numbers are easy to read:
http://www.automobile-propre.com/dossiers/voitures-electriques/chiffres-vente-immatriculations-france/
I'm pleased to see that people in the UK are spending less of the money that they don't have on new cars that they don't need.
Yesterday evening, I was flying above the M1 on the way to East Mids Airport and couldn't help but notice the volume of traffic. Mile after mile of slow moving vehicles. I wonder how many of the drivers actually owned the cars that they were sat in? I suspect most were enslaved to service the debt created by their steel wheeled Audi / Beamer.
Maybe a slowdown in the car buying madness is a good thing. It can only end in tears when the interest rates go up. People need to start living within their means.
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The last time I was on a road in the UK was 1980 or so and there was already too much traffic (daytime, outside of busy hours). As for the B roads (?) they are narrow, twisty and totally un-adapted for dense car traffic let alone the lorries that use them!
The problem is that the economy is based on conspicuous consumption, and it can easily be crashed, what then?
Any change must be incremental for it not to cause great harm.
Be careful what you wish for!
Too many people have been living way beyond their means for far too long. They need to be bitten now before their foolishness causes great harm. Better to confront the pain now.
It will be interesting to see if this trend continues, or if its just a one off. UK car dealers (manufacturers dealers) are top heavy with admin/finance staff who encourage you to take finance, last car my wife bought was an extra £200 for the privilege of buying outright, it started at £600, but as the vehicle was sitting registered taxed and plates fitted, I told them they could keep it. Cars are a secondary commodity in these places, selling finance is what its all about. Apparently the market is becoming flooded with vehicles ending PCP leasing schemes that aren't selling, so in order to compensate current new agreement's aren't as "customer friendly" (if they ever were) . So maybe that's putting some off, who knows ?
At the risk of repeating myself. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders are blaming the uncertainty over Diesels.
https://www.smmt.co.uk/2017/12/uk-car-market-declines-november-confusion-diesel-continues-impact-market/
https://www.smmt.co.uk/2017/12/uk-car-market-declines-november-confusion-diesel-continues-impact-market/
Simplistic nonsense that will cause chaos, and that is exactly what is going to happen after brexit
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It's probably too late for those suckered into over-committing themselves to possess all the materialistic trappings so essential to be cool, hip, with-it, up-to-date, keeping up with the Joneses.....or whatever the modern terminology is.
The credit card providers, banks, car dealers, furniture sellers and all the rest who provide all you could possibly want with no/low deposit - pay later terms have a lot to answer for.
I expect to see more and more car PCP and lease deals ending abruptly by owners simply handing back the car and keys at the same time as they declare themselves bankrupt which seems the easy way out nowadays as people simply have no shame any more.
Bankruptcy has become a growth industry over recent years and to my mind, that is a sure indicator of a sick society. Food banks and soup kitchens, homeless sleeping on the streets also reflect something very wrong with society in this, the second decade of the 21st century.
I can't say I have noticed any government initiatives to alter these growing cancers in society, indeed many government policies are actually causing much of what we see around us. 'Brexit' most certainly is not the remedy!
Tom
I think some of the slowdown is due to confusion over where the government stand with regards to diesel cars. I think the government are also confused.
An interesting and also very valid point regarding finance being the main commodity for sale in car dealerships. A couple of years ago I was looking to replace our aging VW Golf utility car. I wanted some other mug to have taken the hit on depreciation so I looked at the auctions to pick up something about 12 to 18 months old. I noticed that the local car supermarkets were buying most of the cars that I was interested in and it soon became obvious that the auction route wasn't for me. What did astonish me at the time was that the cars bought at auction by these supermarkets were appearing on their forecourts with less than £100 markup on the auction price. It was then that I came to the same conclusion as you, the money is in the financial products, the car is just the worm on the hook to catch a mug.
In the end, I bought a 14 month old Golf privately which we still have. It was a Bluemotion model, the type which our EU friends in Germany scammed people with. They then compensated owners in non-EU countries for the scam whilst at the same time telling their EU friends & customers to FO. Nice fringe benefit of EU membership. The car is very good and I have never been without a VW car at any time in my driving history, but I will never buy another German car again.
If you are in debt, stop buying things that you don't need. That may be simplistic, but it certainly isn't nonsense and I am happy with the benefits that philosophy has given me.
The problem is that people have been convinced that the best things in life require expenditure. Convinced that they can't be happy unless they own the latest Audi or unless they move from a three bed semi into a 4 bed detached. This has been a deliberate ploy to trap people into debt. Once snared in debt they are vulnerable to exploitation and manipulation in employment. What government wouldn't want that?
I break up from work today until 3 January and have many inexpensive, but highly rewarding things planned with friends and family. The Audi guys will be in work Christmas morning earning overtime to service the debt on the Q3. People need to realise that the best things in life are very inexpensive.
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I'm sure that is only a small part of the story, many areas of retail have been struggling and PCP is creating a new car buying problem as the earlier deals end and the true PCP cost is revealed.
I'm a contributor to the drop in car sales. I used to change them frequently, the previous one just short of three years with me and two years wasn't unusual, but the present one I've had nearly seven years now and don't intend changing it. I've always bought for cash and can afford another one or two cars, but with the uncertainties due to Brexit I'm keeping the capital.
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