How to sell cars in 2024: Key webinar talking points

Cox Automotive’s Philip Nothard said schemes like these made a real difference. “I think it helped. Every bit in the consumer’s pocket does help,” Philip added. “Now, there are a lot of incentives form dealers or manufacturers instead, where they’re offering to put in [a home charger] as part of a purchase of a new car. But it’s not as effective. The fact they had the grant, and we’re the only major market in Europe that doesn’t have some kind of incentive in place for the consumer – removing it was the wrong thing to do. I think it should have [been] maintained.”

Stellantis UK Vice President of Sales Eurig Druce agreed, saying that EV sales had stalled since the plug-in grant was removed: “What we’ve seen is a decline since the grant has gone in terms of the volume of electric vehicles being sold. So, on the face of it, you have to conclude it was useful and helpful,” Eurig added.

But while this fall in private EV interest is concerning for both manufacturers and dealerships alike, it’s yet more potent (and worrying) in the context of the new ZEV mandate. Introduced on 3 January, the ZEV legislation dictates that 22% of new cars sold in 2024 must be pure electric. So far, the market is lagging far behind that target, with electric vehicles taking just a 14.7% market share in January.

“It will be the biggest issue, I think, that we face this year as an industry,” reckons Vertu Motors’ Robert Forrester. “[That’s] because the government has put in place a very, very hard-hitting, aspirational set of targets. It’s going to be very difficult for manufacturers if there isn’t a massive change in customer appetite for EVs – which I don’t think there is, without some sort of supply-side help from the government. Then it’s all on the manufacturers to discount the cars, but I don’t think they’ve got the profit in those cars. In which case I think we’ll see pressure on volume and people will actually want to sell less cars in the UK.”

Stellantis UK’s Eurig Druce concurred, saying: “The whole scenario generates a level of distortion in the marketplace. What we have, through this policy, is perhaps a compelling policy to drive supply – but not really a 360-degree strategy to drive the transition that’s required. So there’s nothing to drive demand. It’s something to drive [the] supply of vehicles in terms of electric, and the penalties for not reaching that level, but nothing to drive the consumer to want to make the change.”

Choppy waters ahead for used market

So, that’s the new car market, but what about used? SMMT figures claim that the market grew by 351,915 (5.1%) in 2023, while Cox Automotive predicts a smaller (yet still healthy) 2.8% YoY increase in 2024.

But choppy waters could lie ahead – especially when it comes to supply and demand – as Stellantis UK’s Eurig Druce explained: “We’ve come out of a Covid period which saw a new car market that wasn’t as big as it would normally be. So, fundamentally, supply in the used car market over the next two to three years is going to be where it has been historically.”

Cox Automotive’s Phillip Nothard raised concerns on the supply of petrol and diesel models specifically: “As we move to a more positive demand and appetite from retailers that begin to stock up again to their normal levels, that product [supply] will start to dry up, particularly in the zero-to-four-year-old products, and particularly in the non-BEV, petrol/diesel product. So, we’ve got to be very clear that vehicles that are entering the used vehicle parc in that bracket are getting slimmer and slimmer. There are some scary numbers that you are starting to see in the marketplace.”

This concern is made worse by the used market being dominated by ICE car sales. Around 94% of 2023’s total used car sales were either petrol (4.1m) or diesel (2.7m) – and this is further compounded by little appetite for used electric cars: they made up just 1.6% of total used car sales in 2023. It is hoped that, as new EV sales grow, more will continue to trickle down to the used market, freeing up ICE used car supplies.