Strong new car sales continue for carwow in August

News
08/09/2020

Manufacturer ‘offer’ innovation boosts the market ahead of plate change


  • carwow leads generate 7% of all new car sales in August

  • Dramatic increase in AFV sales – plug-in hybrids up 70% year-on-year

  • Innovative offers from manufactures boosts sales pre-plate change

  • Whilst some scrappage schemes near an end, others tempt consumers with minimal trade-in restrictions


As the SMMT reveals the latest new car registrations, Head of OEM at carwow, Sepi Arani offers insight into consumer demand from car comparison websites.


“Overall, carwow saw strong performance in August, delivering leads that led to just over 7% of all new car sales in the UK across all brands.

“Marketwise, most notably, we saw a 33% year-on-year drop in diesel’s share of carwows sales. In contrast, we saw a continued but dramatic increase in AFV sales - electric cars +51% year-on-year, plug-in hybrids +70% year-on-year. Top sellers in the AFV category include the likes of the Renault Zoe, Nissan LEAF and Peugeot’s e208.

“carwow itself also went from strength-to-strength with 43.5% and 39.9% growth in reported sales year-on-year during June and July respectively. This indicates a continued and evident growth in appetite from consumers seeking a single, one stop platform for reviews, pricing and enquiries when buying a new car.

“Our outlook for September see’s manufacturers continuing to fight for share of voice during what would traditionally be the last ‘big’ month of the year as we enter ‘70’ registration. Brands still need of recover sales lost during lockdown.

“Whilst there will be some enhanced offers for new cars in September, a lot of brands have already come to the market post lock down with innovative offers such as Audi’s “3 on us” or Citroens “123” offers. Other brands, like Volvo, continue with deposit contributions such as an enhanced £750 on the new XC90. This offer enhancing path is what most brands may use in September to give them the extra boost in the market. We have seen Mercedes-Benz play this exact strategy in the last few days with their GLC deposit contribution rising to £3,500 from £3,000.

“Although there has been a re-introduction of manufacturer led scrappage schemes, many expire at the end of September, putting further onus on consumers to complete their purchase in the plate change month. But some good scrappage schemes remain, with Mazda in particularly operating a very generous scheme - offering a minimum of £3,000 off a new Mazda with minimal restrictions on the trade in required.”