News

Petrol cars trump diesel as the buyers’ choice

Advert

Time 11:03 am, April 7, 2014

00544b40-3d04-4e4f-92f8-052f2a151326MORE people than ever before are opting for petrol-powered cars rather than diesels, new research suggests.

AA Cars’ ‘Car Purchase Index’ reveals that of the 71 per cent of British people who are looking to buy a new car within the next three years, 42 per cent will choose petrol and 38 per cent will opt for diesel. In 2011 and 2012, diesel was the more popular option.

The Index also showed that gender influences fuel choice – two-fifths of ‘male petrol heads’ actually prefer diesel cars, while three out of 10 women would opt for a diesel.


David Bruce, director of AA Cars, says that although fuel prices were rising sharply up to three years ago, when diesel was the favourite fuel, the trend has since been downward although the gap between diesel and petrol forecourt costs had been widening.

‘This has probably encouraged more people to opt for petrol but if the cost of diesel continues to tumble this might reverse the trend,’ he said. ‘At the pumps, diesel is at its lowest price since 2012.

‘But the fact remains that a litre of diesel, at 135.59p on average, still costs 6p more than petrol at 129.46p per litre.


‘So money is only likely to be saved by higher mileage motorists where the economy of diesel cars overcomes the higher fuel cost.

‘Frequent short stop-start trips don’t suit modern diesels-this can lead to problems with the diesel particulate filter blockages which is less likely to happen with cars that do regularly long runs.’

The report also found that hybrid and electric cars continue to hold a relatively tiny proportion of the market but the trend to ‘go green’ is growing.

Seven per cent of new car buyers will opt for a hybrid while pure electric cars will attract one per cent of those planning to change their cars within the next three years.

‘Key is improvement in technology which ultimately should provide greater range for electric vehicles, while more charging points and faster charge times will help to overcome the fear of running out of juice.

‘But despite the £5,000 government grant for such cars, remain a barrier.’

By Dominic Rust

 

Car Dealer Magazine's avatar

Car Dealer has been covering the motor trade since 2008 as both a print and digital publication. In 2020 the title went fully digital and now provides daily motoring updates on this website for the car industry. A digital magazine is published once a month.



More stories...

Advert
Server 108