- GOVERNMENT TO ANNOUNCE £700m EV SUBSIDY SCHEME
- PUSH REGISTRATIONS HIT 17% IN Q2
- CHANCELLOR TO ANNOUNCE AUTO-ENROLMENT REVIEW
- SMALL BUSINESS SENTIMENT AT RECORD LOW
- GRAVELLS IN 2.4% MARGIN FOR 2024
- WEEK AHEAD: Unemployment figures
- FCA CLAIMS FIRMS WARNING FOR CAR FINANCE COMPENSATION CLAIMS
- ‘CARTOONISHLY LARGE’ OIL SURPLUS
- TRUMP’S 30% TARIFFS ON EU AND MEXICO
- GROUP 1 DONATES £250k TO FLOOD RELIEF
- OPINION: No customer, no future
Government to announce £700m EV subsidy scheme
The government is set to announce a £700m subsidy scheme for EVs, The Sunday Times reports. Whitehall officials have been putting the final touches to it this weekend.
While the plans are yet to be signed off, an announcement could be made as soon as this week.
Last month’s spending review set aside £1.4bn “to support the continued uptake of electric vehicles, including vans and HGVs”. Up to £700m of this will now be used for subsidies or grants to reduce purchase costs.
It would be the first EV incentive for retail buyers since the Plug-in Car Grant ended in 2022.
The government is also allocating £25m to help households without driveways. Gullies will be cut into footpaths to allow owners to charge on the street. The Sunday Times reports 20k will be installed by the end of 2026.
Push registrations hit 17% in Q2
New car registrations with no end user jumped from 8% in Q1 this year to 17% in Q2, according to Suzuki cars boss David Kateley.
Speaking to Auto Sunday, Kateley said he’d not seen the figures that high before and the rise was at the expense of retail and Motability registrations.
Typically, registrations with no end user are to daily rental fleets, manufacturer staff and demo fleets, but are widely seen as forced registrations.
The SMMT headline figures only show that retail registrations account for 38.6% of the market, and fleet and business (which includes no-end-user cars) is running at a 61.4% share.
Kateley warned that while Suzuki controls its own volume tightly, for the wider market, such rapid growth in no end user channels risks further destabilising residual values and undermining consumer confidence.
* Read the full interview with David Kateley in the August issue of Auto Market Insight
Chancellor to announce auto-enrolment review
The chancellor is expected to trigger a review of the auto-enrolment scheme this week, reports The Guardian. This could force employers to raise their contributions to staff pensions.
An announcement could come as soon as tomorrow (Monday). It will be one of several changes in the government’s financial services strategy which will be detailed to City bosses on Tuesday.
There has been no indication of what the government is considering for a minimum. However, leading pension providers have long called for the figure to be raised to 12%, compared to today’s 8% (of which employees pay 5% and employers pay 3%).
A review will be formally launched before parliament rises for summer recess on 22 July.
Small business sentiment at record low
Nearly 1 in 3 small businesses expect to downsize or close entirely in the next 12 months. The survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) revealed that just 25% expect their businesses to expand.
It is the closely-watched survey’s worst sentiment since it began in 2008, reports The Sunday Times. The state of the UK economy is the biggest concern, followed by the tax burden and rising labour costs.
Gravells in 2.4% margin for 2024
Gravells has announced a £3.5m profit before tax (2.4% margin) for the year ended December 2024. It’s down from a £4.6m profit (3.6% margin) in 2023. Turnover grew from £130.5m to £147.8m.
“The performance of the UK economy and relatively high interest rates continue to put pressure on the consumer and businesses looking to replace their vehicle fleets,’ said Jonathan Gravell. “Economic forecasts indicate an improved position for 2025.”
WEEK AHEAD
This week, Renault expected to announce interim CEO
Tuesday, chancellor’s Mansion House speech
Wednesday, CPI and RPI
Thursday, unemployment rate
DATA INSIGHT
FCA claims firms warning for car finance compensation claims
36%: The FCA has told Guardian Money that consumers signing up with a claims management company (CMC) or law firm for car finance compensation could lose up to 36% of any money they receive. They would be “paying for a service they do not need”.
‘Cartoonishly large’ oil surplus
103m: Total daily demand for barrels of oil, which will climb by just 700k barrels a day in 2025. Despite this, oil producers are pumping an extra 2.1m barrels a day, to 105m. It is raising fears over “cartoonishly large” oil surpluses as the Chinese EV revolution pushes ICE vehicles off the road, reports The Telegraph. “Peak oil demand is on the horizon,” said one economist.
GLOBAL AUTO
Trump’s 30% tariffs on EU and Mexico
Donald Trump says the US will impose 30% tariffs on the EU and Mexico on 1 August if they cannot negotiate better terms. The EU had been hoping to conclude a tentative deal to stave off higher tariffs but Trump has now “punctured the recent optimism in Brussels,” reports Automotive News.
“If you wish to open your heretofore closed Trading Market to the United States, and eliminate your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policy and Trade Barriers, we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment,” Trump wrote. EU officials are meeting today (Sunday) to discuss the situation.
Group 1 donates £250k to flood relief
Group 1 Automotive is donating $250k to support relief and rebuilding efforts following the 4 July flood in central Texas. “The loss of life and catastrophic devastation in Central Texas are unimaginable,” said Daryl Kenningham, Group 1’s president & CEO. “As a Texas-based company, we know Texans respond when adversity strikes.”
OPINION
No customer, no future
Examining the new car registration data is always a case of looking beyond the headline figures and statements. Speaking to David Kateley at Suzuki this week revealed a sobering reality: in Q2, 17% of new cars were registered without an end user, up from 8% in Q1. This is not a subtle trend; it’s an alarming market distortion.
While these may not be the dictionary definition of pre-registrations (instead going into daily rental, OEM demo fleets or staff cars) they are, nonetheless, pushed into the market.
These ‘ownerless’ registrations represent an unsustainable inflating of new car volume. The pressure comes from the influx of new brands keen to gain market share. This forces all UK NSCs, new or legacy, each with a target set by their OEM, to push as hard as they dare.
Retailers face a two-fold problem. First, these cars re-enter the market almost immediately, diluting nearly-new residuals. Second, they undermine authentic retail demand data, masking the true health of brands’ market traction. This erodes margin potential for franchised retailers who, while chasing manufacturer volume bonuses, later compete with their own surplus stock.
For manufacturers, particularly emerging brands, this strategy may seem like a fast route to scale, but it risks damaging brand equity before it has matured. Consumers, increasingly discerning and aware of market manipulations, may perceive brands with excessive tactical registrations as desperate rather than desirable.
As we know, the cycle doesn’t end there. As residual values weaken due to oversupply, lease and PCP payments inevitably rise, making new cars less affordable for real customers. This in turn dampens genuine retail demand, forcing OEMs to push yet more tactical registrations to keep factories moving. And ultimately, this makes it more likely weaker brands will exit the market.
Tristan Young
Editorial Director
Auto Sunday
Get in touch: tristan@autosunday.co.uk
ISSN 2977-6597
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