7:47 am, April 30, 2024
Demand for new cars has remained strong in April with customers being wooed by tempting offers on electric cars, new data shows.
Auto Trader recorded a 16% year-on-year increase in visits for new cars on its marketplace in April, it reported. This is despite new car discounts ‘softening’ in April compared to the new-reg month of March.
The marketplace said the Land Rover Defender 110 retained the top spit as ‘hottest’ brand new car on its platform. The premium off-roader took the highest share of total brand new car enquiries (4%) sent to car dealers in April – despite the car only accounting for just 0.5% of the new car stock currently advertised on the platform.
The Range Rover Sport was the second ‘hottest’ new car (3.5%), while the Volkswagen Golf (3%) was third.
BMW is currently the top performing new car brand, driving the largest share of brand-new car enquiries (17%) sent to car dealers. The German brand also commanded nearly a quarter (23%) of all new car advert views in April, followed by JLR (14%), Volkswagen (8%) and Hyundai – the latter boosted by strong demand for its Ioniq 5.
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Turning to electric cars, BMW was the most popular EV carmaker in April and accounted for 13% of all new EV enquiries, followed by MG (11%) and Hyundai (10%).
At a model level, the Peugeot E-208 is currently generating the most consumer interest among pure EVs, with the French supermini receiving a 6% share.
Auto Trader’s data also revealed that many of the fastest growing models in terms of consumer demand are fully electric models, including the E-208, as well as the Vauxhall Mokka Electric, with both manufacturers recently offering strong incentives.
The firm said that discounts on new cars ‘softened slightly’ in April, coming back in line with February. However, three quarters of brand new cars across all fuel types still have some level of discount applied.
Auto Trader’s Ian Plummer said: ‘March may well be the busiest month for new cars sales, but based on what we’re tracking on our marketplace, new car demand remains robust.
‘Despite a slight softening in new car discounts this month, most brands continue to offer generous incentives, especially for their growing array of electric models.
‘With the ZEV mandate target front of mind for manufacturers, we’re already seeing examples of brands utilising offers tactically to try and meet them.
‘The last quarter showed us that new EVs sell when they’re at the right price for car buyers – we’ll continue to monitor with interest how each brand responds to the growing pressure to meet the regulatory targets.’
