Study the bigger picture and you’ll discover the under-reported fact that around 1.5 million cars have been sold in Britain so far this year, compared with 1.8 million over the same (January-September) period of 2008. This represents a 15 per cent DROP – despite the “steep rise” headlines and the Government’s decision to temporarily distort the market by offering subsidies to up to 400,000 buyers of new cars.
Not that the scrap scheme is having much – if any – positive effect on manufacturers who build all their products in Britain, relying solely on British-based workers. Again comparing Jan-Sept ’09 with Jan-Sept ’08, Aston Martin sales are down 32 per cent this year, Bentley 54 per cent, Jaguar 18 per cent, Land Rover 24 per cent, Lotus 3720per cent and MINI 14 per cent.
Every other manufacturer with car-building facilities in the UK is going backwards too – Honda by 16 per cent, Nissan one per cent, Toyota 12 and Vauxhall 24. The only exception to the rule is back-from-the-dead MG, which sold nine cars in the first nine months of ’08 but has registered 265 in ’09. Although news just in this week is that production at Longbridge has been suspended for at least six months. The company is now struggling with registrations of fewer than one car per day.
A handful of other small, specialist foreign manufacturers – Abarth, Alfa, Corvette, Smart and SsangYong – have also sold more this year than they did last. And the same is true of Hyundai and Kia.
But that’s only eight firms who are up this year – against 42 which have plummeted. Nobody is doing worse than Hummer (minus 72 per cent) Chrysler (-60), Bentley (-54), Daihatsu (-53), Saab (-51), Jeep (-50), Renault (-48), Daimler (-41), Mitsubishi (-40) and Lotus (-37). These should be the companies keenest do the best deals by offering the fattest discounts. Assuming, that is, they intend to remain in business.
* On Wednesday, it emerged that Jaguar Land Rover had finally secured the £175 million loan it desperately needs to keep factories and jobs in Blighty. The money came not from the British Government, but the State Bank of India.
* As a growing number of motorists are watching the pennies in these tough economic times, car makers are increasingly using fuel efficiency as a selling point. Audi and VW are playing the economy card by reminding customers that some of their diesels are capable of 60mpg-plus in normal conditions. And I can confirm that when I’ve road-tested these and other world-class diesels from the likes of BMW, Citroën, Ford, MINI, Peugeot, Skoda and Volvo, they have usually lived up to expectations by doing 60 miles or thereabouts on one gallon of derv.
I can’t explain why, but in my experience Seat diesels have been thirstier than their spec sheets say they should be. Worse still, the Toyota Prius petrol-electric almost falls into gas guzzler territority whenever I drive the damn thing.
Seat has responded by claiming that its new Ibiza Ecomotive has just achieved 120mpg in an economy run. And Toyota says it has proved doubters like me wrong because a Prius has just achieved 84mpg in another competition where slow, light-footed expert drivers are encouraged to travel as far possible on a single gallon.
Take it from me, in typical everyday conditions consisting of cold engine starts plus in-town and motorway driving, you’ll be lucky to do half as well – think 60mpg for the Ibiza and about 42 for the Prius.
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