New Car Sales Suffer Worst Slump In 40 Years

Car Finance Calculator

Thu, 09 Oct 2008

Sales of new cars plummeted to their lowest level in over 40 years last month, according to reports by website What Car ?

The online motoring resource said marked declines were reported in car sales throughout all segments, with the exception of the city car category, highlighting motorists’ growing demand for smaller vehicles .

Premium/luxury brands were among the worst affected, with Aston Martin suffering a 67 per cent drop to just 19 cars sold during September.

Tata-owned Land Rover and Jaguar both suffered with a 58 per cent fall in sales to 422 cars and a 41 per cent slump to 422 cars sold respectively.

Industry experts described the sales figures as "dreadful" and warned that they would impact on car building in the UK . Carmakers Toyota and Land Rover have already announced a cut in production due to a slump in orders .

The British Car Auctions (BCA) Used Car Market Report also revealed that used car prices have dropped dramatically over the past 12 months.

According to the group’s estimates for the first half of 2008, the average value of a used car bought at auction has dropped by more than £1,000 to £4,765 since autumn 2007.