DRIVE TALKING

What’s hot on the road

SECOND-HAND BLUES

NEW car registrations were down 4.5% in June, compared to the same month last year, and also down 4.5% for the year to date. Registrations for the year stand at 87,151, down from 91,215 in 2017. Light commercials were up just over 2%, while HGV sales rose by 110%, though the numbers, at 185 sales in June, are small. Worryingly for the industry here, sales of imported second-hand cars in June totalled 8,142, almost 6.5 times the number of new cars. The bestselling car in June was the Opel Corsa, and the bestseller year to date is the Nissan Qashqai, pushing the Hyundai Tucson into second place.

THE LION ROARS

PEUGEOT was the biggest gainer in the first six months, with sales up 53%. Demand for the SUVs mentioned above, plus the retention of the company’s No.5 position in the van sales chart, gave it a 4.6% share of the total passenger/light commercial market.

ELECTRIC DREAMS

WE’RE only half way through the year and already sales of electric vehicles are up by over 40% on the number for all of 2017, with 529 sold. Increased battery power for the likes of the Nissan Leaf, BMW i3 and Renault Zoe clearly are addressing range anxiety issues.