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05 April 23 Press releases

New car registrations | March 2023

 


 

Although the headline numbers look positive, they mask a worrying decline in retail demand. Recent sales growth has been driven by the fleet sector, but early indicators on our marketplace suggest a dampening in appetite for new cars as the cost-of-living crisis bites the market.

Key spokesperson

Ian Plummer

Chief Customer Officer

CONNECT

 

“Visits to Auto Trader’s site were up 17% on last year in March and new car stock rose by almost a third (30%), but the volume of consumers viewing new car adverts and enquiring about new cars are down more than 12% and 40% respectively. Currently, almost all (93%) of new car sales are bought on finance, so we suspect rising interest rates are to blame.”

 


 

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