Pre-Registrations/Tactical Cars

[Philip Nothard 26]

All,

 

What is the current position with regards these; even though new car performance is up year-on-year and month-on-month - mainly through Retail.  There are very quiet 'rumours' that Sept has a high volume of registrations in the last day or so through tactical bonus opportunities.

 

I'm personally not necessarily against them, as they generate sales from consumers that believe these are the best deals, dealers can register stock that they otherwise wouldn't retail and generally keeps the 'wheels' turning - its unfortunate that it is such a taboo subject in certain areas of conversation.

 

Your views appreciated. 

 

 

[James Baggott 227]

Funnily enough, I've just written my column for the next column all about this. I've heard the same thing but the SMMT is stonewalling with information - I'm not sure why they're so secretive about it. I don't think pre-reg is a good idea at all - especially when we're hiding the fact it's happening from the public. We all know it is, but consumers don't - all they see is the mainstream media reporting the car market UP again. This isn't good when monetary policy makers see this and base decisions on an economic indicator that isn't painting the whole picture.

 

Dealers buying into pre-reg is another thing altogether - I think it's a very dangerous cycle to get into and one that many dealers have told me is impossible to break once they're addicted... Dangerous game!