The new car market is clearly not in a good way. Production is down at all the major car manufacturers and lay offs have been announced across the board. The prestigious national icon Bentley have announced redundancies last month. This move is clear evidence that it is not only bottom level car manufacturers seeing dwindling sales. Official figures show a 30.9% reduction in new car registrations in January as compared to the year previous according to the Society of Motor Manufactures. This is apparently the biggest fall since 1974 and the trend looks set to continue. 3 years is the predicted length for the slump in car sales according to many industry analysts.

There has been better news in the second hand market, with the two big players in the auction world, Manheim and BCA reporting that sales have been getting better week on week. BCA stated that more vans and cars were sold in Jan 2010 than any previous year and prices of vehicles have been on the rise for the last three months. Increases on last year have been pitted around the £300 mark on average.

Car leasing is also on the up it seems as the major leasers are reporting improving numbers this year. This is possibley a result of people making the choice to lease their vehicles during this slow economy rather than commit to purchasing them outright. Traditionaly vechicle leasing companies have done very well from periods of economic downturn, and this one seems to be no different.

Wholesale van prices increased by around £140 according to the other big name in the auction industry – Manheim. The increase marks the first upturn since last year’s September. There comes yet again another rise in sales of 4 wheel-drive vehicles this period, which makes it 6th month in a row now.

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