Start Your Engines: Looking At The Year Ahead For 2017

18th Jan, 2017

Whatever you think of 2016, you can’t claim that it wasn’t eventful! With so many political and global shakeups, the car industry is one of the many gearing up for the brunt of the changes. In 2017, we’ve already learned that the new car sales hit a record high in the last year. It doesn’t seem set to continue, however, which could be where the scrap car market fills the gap.

Looking at the facts about motoring

For the last five years, Britain’s general public has been steadily acquiring new sets of wheels. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, 2.69 million cars were sold in Britain over the course of the last year – that’s a 2% increase on 2015’s figures. The SMMT have said these sales are due in large part to “strong consumer confidence and low interest finance deals”, helped along nicely by the launch of several brand new models. It’s also been speculated that the recession of the late 2000s resulted in a pent-up demand, which in turn has fuelled the last five years of consistent new car sales.

However, some industry experts have referred to this situation as a bubble, which is set to burst this year with a fall in sales; probably by around 5-6%. A closer look of car sales show that a large proportion of the driving figures (pardon the pun) this year have been from fleet car sales – i.e., organisations purchasing cars for private or public sector use.

This has lead to cautious warnings about the state of future sales: the momentous Brexit vote in June is likely to start having more tangible consequences in 2017. Up to 85% of cars sold in Britain are imported, so if the UK loses access to the EU single market, it could add up to £1500 to the price of each car. Not a pleasant prospect!

Looking at the alternatives in the car industry

With the implications of Brexit coupled with a predicted rise of inflation in 2017, it’s likely to mean the prospect of buying a new car becomes less realistic for a lot of the population. This is likely where the used car market is going to fill in the gap. The used-car market has already hit a record high level in first half of last year, sharing the growth of the mainstream market. By the summer of last year, the used car market was showing an 8% rise on 2015’s figures. The SMMT’s chair, Mike Hawes, said in August that “the UK’s used car market is at its strongest ever, and that’s great news for buyers.”

At Scrap Car Network, we’re dedicated to supporting this market, helping to continue sustainable growth in the motor industry – especially the used car market – by recycling car parts wherever possible when you say scrap my car. When you scrap your car with us, we examine it carefully for any parts that can be resold, reused or repurposed, saving them from the scrap car heap and letting them continue productive lives. We’re all about saving on unnecessary waste! And who knows, maybe one of these parts will end up in a second-hand motor that one day belongs to you.

You can find other great reasons to choose Scrap Car Network, or if you just want to get started you can enter your car registration and postcode on our website to receive an instant quote.

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