Spanish New Car Sales Plunge 30.8% In June

[R K]

http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/ar...75-363c7e876cd0

MADRID (Thomson Financial) - Sales of new cars plunged 30.8 percent in Spain in June compared with the same month last year after suffering an annual fall of 24.3 percent in May, the Spanish automobile manufacturers' association reported Tuesday.

Sales came to 114,958 units last month.

New-car sales were down 17.6 percent at 702,365 in the first half of the year compared with the same period of 2007, the association said.

Ooooo Monsieur Trichet, you are spoiling us with your interest rises.......

Since that will include Seat/VWs I think I am going to go for a hold on Thurdsday.

Edited July 1, 2008 by Red Kharma

[Nicholas Cage]

almost as bad as spain

ONDON (Thomson Financial) - Pendragon Plc. said it expects the decline in activity levels for both new and used cars to persist for the remainder of the year, although highlighted it is still profitable and cash-generative.

In a pre-close trading update, the car dealership group said nationally in May, new retail registrations were down 9.5 percent, while small business user registrations were down 15.4 percent and that this decline appears to have continued into June.

Pendragon added the volatile market conditions make it difficult to give a profit outlook for the group this year, but said its sales volumes have remained robust relative to the market and aftersales has continued to perform well.

To limit the impact of the difficult and competitive trading conditions, it has taken action to reduce its fixed-cost base and has recently completed a redundancy programme resulting in about 500 job cuts.

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShareNews.asp?sharepr...ntinuing_UPDATE

Off topic, Glasgow election is 24th July

[Agentimmo]

http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/ar...75-363c7e876cd0

Ooooo Monsieur Trichet, you are spoiling us with your interest rises.......

Since that will include Seat/VWs I think I am going to go for a hold on Thurdsday.

As Spain has one of the highest debt levels in the EU, maybe they need to curb their spending?

Big ticket items like cars always decline in a recession. Most people will keep there old car for a while longer, not trade in every 2-3 years like in the boom times.

For savers like myself, who have had miserable rates from the ECB for years, I can't wait for M. Trichet to start hiking rates.

It might also mean that I can pick up a good, cheap 2nd hand car over the border in Spain this time next year.

[The Masked Tulip]

Having just come back from posting my scrapped car docs to the DVLA, and have been looking for a newish secondhand car for a few months now, I have to say that all this talk of falling car sales is certainly not materialising in the prices I am seeing on the forecourts - new or old.

Sadly, car prices in Swansea seem to be like house prices. Driving 25 miles down theroad can say you a few thousand but... By now I was expecting to see some good/desperate deals from car sellers. Ain't happening in Wales as far as I can make out.

Perhaps I should go to Spain to buy one.

[Guest DissipatedYouthIsValuable]

Having just come back from posting my scrapped car docs to the DVLA, and have been looking for a newish secondhand car for a few months now, I have to say that all this talk of falling car sales is certainly not materialising in the prices I am seeing on the forecourts - new or old.

Sadly, car prices in Swansea seem to be like house prices. Driving 25 miles down theroad can say you a few thousand but... By now I was expecting to see some good/desperate deals from car sellers. Ain't happening in Wales as far as I can make out.

Perhaps I should go to Spain to buy one.

Depends on the price range. I'm seeing some good bargains starting to appear at the luxury end.

Sticking with the Ford Fiesta for now though.

[CharlieChuck]

Depends on the price range. I'm seeing some good bargains starting to appear at the luxury end.

Sticking with the Ford Fiesta for now though.

Yeah I agree. So far it appears to be the cheaper type of chelsea tractors that are falling a lot in price. Especially ones that are 2-4 years old. No one wants these because of the high running costs and the tax rise that's planned for next year. Older 2nd hand (before 2001) and anything under a grand will probably hold it's value quite well.

[blankster]

If there's a recession there's going to be a glut of surplus company cars, not to mention commercial vehicles.

[juvenal]

Great thread title, Red Kharma!

[WitsEnd]

Gas guzzlers and high end business use will plummet, mid range will hold well (normal pattern). The lease market will hit overall sales hard as credit becomes harder to obtain. Those who own their cars outright will be more likely to keep hold for longer.

Maybe time to invest in the car parts and maintenance market?

[mightytharg]

Depends on the price range. I'm seeing some good bargains starting to appear at the luxury end.

Sticking with the Ford Fiesta for now though.

Where? I need a nice convertible for the summer...

[gfromls]

Ford US sales -19% in June.

[The Masked Tulip]

Would have loved my old banger to have gone on for another 5 or 6 months so I could perhaps, mercenarily, have picked up a forced sale bargain.

Those car supermarkets seem to have lots of 1 year old low mileage Focuses from the various 'net searches that I have done today. My head reads all the reviews saying that Ford makes good cars in the UK now - Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo are supposed to be excellent - but my gut just says "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!". It also asks me for a glass of warm milk each night before bed.

[The Masked Tulip]

Would have loved my old banger to have gone on for another 5 or 6 months so I could perhaps, mercenarily, have picked up a forced sale bargain.

Those car supermarkets seem to have lots of 1 year old low mileage Focuses from the various 'net searches that I have done today. My head reads all the reviews saying that Ford makes good cars in the UK now - Fiesta, Focus and Mondeo are supposed to be excellent - but my gut just says "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!". It also asks me for a glass of warm milk each night before bed.

[northernbear]

just to play contrarian,

Is there a possibility that 'affordable' cars say sub 1500 will actually increase in price.

Less people looking to buy new equals more people looking to buy cheap?

Or will the cheap end all be for sale as unemployment means folk will sell uneeded cars to buy food.

Im too young to remember the last recession - what happenend then please.

(i have also posted this in the northern ireland section where there is a discussion of the local area car prices)

[FLASH_2007]

I am very interested in seeing what is going to happen to used car prices and have had numerous discussions with friends in the trade and what we think is going to happen differs between us. If availability of credit was the main factor for the cars being purchased in the first place and people are being declined for credit that were being were being accepted a year ago then the prices of cars are irrelevant because if these people cant get credit they cannot buy them regardless of price.

Say for example two identical buyers in September 2007 buy a brand new BMW for £30,000. One of them pays cash and buys it outright the other pays £500 deposit and buys the car on finance. After a year the cash buyer decides to sell the car. Without finance and personal loans there is virtually no buyer for the car. The guy who would have bought it last year only has £500 savings the cars hardly going to fall to £500. The only person who is likely to buy the car off him is a dealer who will just make a silly low offer becuase he may be able to sell the car on finance for a hugh mark up but because it will take him a while to find a buyer he will try to make a huge margin on the car probably about £4000 - £5,000. A majority of cash buyers will hold onto their cars once the find out what they are able to get for them, they just simply wont sell for the low prices that are offered.

The credit buyer may want to sell but cant because the car will be in negative equity. This car will only come to market if it is repossessed / handed back to the finance company. These cars may go to auction but they will not be allowed to go too cheap there will be reserve prices and if they are not met they will just keep going through the auction again and again until they are met or withdrawn. This reserve price will prove to be the floor.

I bought a second hand Lexus privately a couple of months ago I looked around and haggled very hard but still paid £7850. On a fourcourt I would have been looking at £9000 - £1000. Im sure if I took it to a dealer they would only offer me £6,000 purely beacuse they dont want it but there was no way of me buying one for £6000 there just aren't any available at that price.

Edited July 1, 2008 by FLASH_2007

[R K]

All that lost VAT has got to hurt too.

This isn't going to end well I feel.

[29929BlackTuesday]

http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/ar...75-363c7e876cd0

Ooooo Monsieur Trichet, you are spoiling us with your interest rises.......

Since that will include Seat/VWs I think I am going to go for a hold on Thurdsday.

Very Very funny topic title and post Mr Kharma! Actually spat some tea involuntarily over keyboard at the M. Trichet bit!

Have you heard of the two Spanish firemen? Jose' and Hose two?

[_w_]

Having just come back from posting my scrapped car docs to the DVLA, and have been looking for a newish secondhand car for a few months now, I have to say that all this talk of falling car sales is certainly not materialising in the prices I am seeing on the forecourts - new or old.

Sadly, car prices in Swansea seem to be like house prices. Driving 25 miles down theroad can say you a few thousand but... By now I was expecting to see some good/desperate deals from car sellers. Ain't happening in Wales as far as I can make out.

Perhaps I should go to Spain to buy one.

It's like houses, you will find the unbelievable bargains at auctions. The rest is trying to hold up, still in denial in the UK.

[impatient_mug]

It's like houses, you will find the unbelievable bargains at auctions. The rest is trying to hold up, still in denial in the UK.

I'm always nervous about car auctions, mainly because I'm ashamed to admit I have no mechanical knowledge. I'd have no idea if I was buying a melon, or an insurance write-off. I do tend to buy privately tho, and my 330 cost less than a friend paid for a 1.6 Focus.

[Guest sillybear2]

Sadly, car prices in Swansea seem to be like house prices. Driving 25 miles down theroad can say you a few thousand but... By now I was expecting to see some good/desperate deals from car sellers. Ain't happening in Wales as far as I can make out.

You're in Swansea, you never mention that! lovely!

[mrcutegurlzz]

You people are always so glum.

What about this?

http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2713.html

Huge increase in laptop sales!!!

Profits!!!!

People Buying stuff!!!

Maybe people in spain already have enough cars?

[Miserable Barsteward]

The credit buyer may want to sell but cant because the car will be in negative equity. This car will only come to market if it is repossessed / handed back to the finance company. These cars may go to auction but they will not be allowed to go too cheap there will be reserve prices and if they are not met they will just keep going through the auction again and again until they are met or withdrawn. This reserve price will prove to be the floor.

I replace my car every 3 or 4 years but I haven't bought from a dealer since the early nineties.I always went away from a car dealer feeling cheated,as if my pocket had been picked and one or two unreliable cars was enough for me.I decided to try my hand at the auctions.Low and behold who do I see at my local auction house,those old familiar car dealer faces that I'd become accustomed to seeing around town.For the sake of a little effort I would save thousands.I've always gone for the low mileage ex fleet cars of up to 2 years old and have never had any problems.I usually save myself 2 or 3 thousand pounds on the forecourt price.Just last week I dropped in at my local auction to get a feel for the prices,since I'll be changing the car again soon.A couple of things struck me about the auction compared to previous years...firstly there was a lack of good quality low mileage ex fleet cars that I've gone for in the past.It just seemed to be alot of high mileage stuff going through.Occasionally I identified a suitable vehicle and noted the price it went for.Generally I was surprised at the way prices were holding up and how well things appeared to sell.However,when I came to look at the catalogue for the following week.I found to my surprise that many of the vehicles I had noted as sold were going through again.Clearly they hadn't reached their reserve.I am wondering if alot of the quality ex fleet cars now get bought up by these new car supermarkets and then they send the rubbish thats left to auction.If my hunch is true it may be more difficult to find my next car.Although the crunch should help,so maybe I'll hang on for another 6 months and hope credit conditions worsen,since I don't require any.

[Bloo Loo]

surely there is a sort of price fixing in the car trade. You go to your newsagents and you buy a car price guide. The trade use glasses or some other similar, the books contain the prices and they deal on those.

to fix the price, all glasses need to do is add a few hundred here or there wherever the trade wants.

[stuckmojo]

going back to topic, I am currently in Spain for work, in Huelva, and I am amused by how the news are presented.

The minister of the economy admitted that growth in the last quarter has indeed slowed down from the previous quarter 0.3%, but cannot really say that Spain is in a recession. Fantastic.

At the same time, the chief representative of the automotive industry put a positive spin on the -30% figures, by completely avoiding the figures and saying that micro-cars are selling better than last year.

.... and I thought that Fionnuala and Badger Darling were good at spin...

As an aside, I noticed how the Spaniards are generally always gloomy about the economy, a bit like the Italians, and no matter how good or bad the situation is, there is always crisis for them. A lot of nostalgia. This makes it very difficult to really assess the general sentiment. However, if you look at what people do, rather than what people say, the hundreds "se vende" signs I have seen around here speak volumes, considering that Huelva, despite being a gorgeous spot, is not swamped by brits or germans. Only Spanish people, mainly from Sevilla, whom have second homes on the sea.

I'll post an update later on, if I survive the searing heat.

[Jin]

surely there is a sort of price fixing in the car trade. You go to your newsagents and you buy a car price guide. The trade use glasses or some other similar, the books contain the prices and they deal on those.

to fix the price, all glasses need to do is add a few hundred here or there wherever the trade wants.

that's not really possible:

the Glasses and CAP data is compiled from auction results from around the country. If they were to "fudge" the figures themselves, many used dealers would quickly find their valuations for PX's are completely out of whack with market conditions and would quickly start losing money as they'd end up paying too much for a car.

When taking in a car from the auctions or a part exchange, the dealer has to factor in the current book price, market conditions for the type of vehicle (eg is it s 7 litre dune buggy in central London?) any work that is required to bring it to standard, warranty costs, expected time on forecourt (depreciation).

It's not easy and a simple mistake when valuing a car can cost 000's, which is not nice considering a dealer usually has a large amount of money tied up in stock.