Change In Car Buying Trends Revealed

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Thu, 06 May 2010

The car buying trends of UK motorists have changed considerably over the past twelve months, according to new data from the Department for Transport .

Latest figures from the group showed that new car sales fell by 6.8 per cent last year, compared with sales in 2008, despite buyers being offered large discounts on new motors through the vehicle scrappage scheme .

Owners are also keeping their cars for longer before deciding to sell, with the average age of a motor increasing to 7.1 years in 2009.

Of those who did decide to fork out on a new car last year, many opted for a smaller one, with the average engine size falling by 3.6 per cent year-on-year to 1692cc.

The popularity of green cars soared in 2009, according to the DfT data, with sales of hybrids and electric cars rising from 48,000 in 2008 to 62,000 last year. There was also the first rise in a decade in the proportion of diesel cars rose for the first time in a decade to 41 per cent.

The statistics also showed that many motorists across the UK have abandoned car ownership altogether in favour of car clubs, with the number of car club members almost doubling from 64,679 to 112,928 over the past year.

According to the DfT, the changes in the behaviour of car owners are due to the rising costs of motoring in the UK, particularly fuel prices .

The cost of petrol rose from 87.15p per litre at the start of 2009 to 107.85p per litre at the end of December. By May 2010, the average cost of both petrol and diesel fuel had risen to around 121p per litre.