It’s been a sticky year for the auto industry and the September figures make for pretty grim reading when you consider that September is the biggest-selling month of the year. There was a -4.4% change in new car registrations in September this year when compared to September 2019, and the year-to-date figures show we’re about 33.2% behind where we were at this point last year. Frightening times, of course, but there are clear signs that the industry is repairing and rebuilding itself.
One interesting byproduct of the pandemic has been a surge in dealers pre-registering their stock. The retailers do this to ensure that they are meeting their targets and getting their bonuses. These are the cars that are used by the staff or used as demonstrators for customers. Christopher Lloyd, editor of BuyaCar.co.uk noticed that discounted ‘pre-reg’ cars are appearing in large numbers particularly early.
Christopher said: “We are offering some remarkable savings on the new price and some of these cars have as little as five or 10 miles on the clock with savings of almost a third.”
BuyaCar is a company which specialises in used cars. They predicted that they will be able to offer a significant number of used 70-plate models from as early as September - when the 70-plate has only just surfaced on brand new cars. With a week still remaining in September, they were still offering savings from £6,072 to £29,910. One example of a pre-reg discount was an Audi A8 which was available for £42,400 - which is a saving of almost £30,000 when compared to the official On-The-Road RRP. This was the most heavily discounted vehicle available from BuyaCar, with a staggering 41.36% of the price wiped off.'
The second most discounted model was a Mercedes-Benz SL Class Convertible. We understand that convertible cars become a bit less desirable as we enter the winter months, but BuyaCar advertised a pre-registration model for £55,400, even though it was listed as brand new with a price tag of £82,625 - that’s a saving os £27,225 for a car with little more than delivery mileage.
The third most discounted model (and perhaps a bit more realistic for most of us) was actually a Peugeot 308 SW Estate. BuyaCar were able to offer one for just £18,295 despite the brand new cost being £26,545 - a saving of 21.08% or £8,250.
So it goes to show that while the new car market is enduring some torrid times right now, the consumer can still benefit from exceptional savings as retailers are keen to clear out their stock over the next few months to pump their sales figures for what has been a rough 2020.