May sees uptick in car demand with Renault at the EV forefront
Retailers are taking advantage of the interest amongst prospective buyers by advertising even more of their new car stock; in May so far, the volume of new cars being advertised on Auto Trader is up 14% on the same period last year.
According to the latest data from Auto Trader, new car interest remains strong with visits to its new car platform increasing 3% month-on-month (MoM) in May, whilst year-on-year (YoY) visits are up 14%.
Retailers are taking advantage of the interest amongst prospective buyers by advertising even more of their new car stock; in May so far, the volume of new cars being advertised on Auto Trader is up 14% on the same period last year.
With the first deliveries of the Renault 5 E-Tech electric recently landing in the UK there is continued interest in the French manufacturer’s EVs this month with a 9.1% share of enquiries.
Renault has also become the most popular new electric brand on the platform this month, having generated a 9.9% share of all brand-new electric car enquiries on Auto Trader so far in May, beating BMW into second place with a 7.6% share.
Whilst the more established brands might be leading, Chinese players aren’t far behind, indeed, this month saw several Chinese brands take another leap up the new car rankings, such as Jaecoo.
The average new car discount across all fuel types has made very little movement this month so far with discounts increasing slightly from 8.7% in April to 8.8% in May.
It’s the same for electric models, though, softening from 10.2% off RRP in April to 10.1%, this could continue over the coming weeks following the government’s changes to the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate in April.
Bex Kennett, new car performance director at Auto Trader said: “It’s been an encouraging month so far for the new car market as demand amongst consumers picks back up again after the seasonal softening in April following the March plate change.
“As a result of this, we’re confident that what we’re seeing on our platform will convert to sales in the coming months. For electric, whilst the industry is currently tracking behind the ZEV mandate target this year.
“With interest in the new car market still buoyant, there is a great opportunity for retailers to capitalise on this by ensuring they stock some of the most in demand cars in front of the largest audience of car buyers”
