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VDA Predicts 8% Decline in U.K. Car Market Next Year
New-car registrations in the U.K. next year will drop to 2.4 million units from 2.6 million in 2016, German auto industry trade group VDA predicts.
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New-car registrations in the U.K. next year will drop to 2.4 million units from 2.6 million in 2016, German auto industry trade group VDA predicts.
The association says demand will decline because of consumer uncertainty coupled with a weakened pound sterling that raises the cost of imported vehicles. VDA’s prediction comes a week after the U.K.’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders reported a 3% gain in car sales through the first 10 months of this year.
Analysts tell the Financial Times that forecasting next year’s vehicle demand in the U.K. is very difficult because of political uncertainties surrounding the country’s vote last June to exit the European Union.
VDA forecasts the German car market will expand 5% this year to 3.4 million units, the best result since the beginning of the current decade. The group predicts global passenger vehicle sales in 2017 will grow 2% to 83.6 million units, pulled by a 5% gain to 24 million vehicles in China.
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