Money News
Despite the hype about global warming - or 'climate change' as it's fashionably referred to nowadays - fuel guzzling cars affecting the environment failed to materially change the car buying public's habits during 2006, according the latest used car sales statistics from Experian, the global information solutions company.
As the UK saw used car sales fall by 0.8% during 2006, used cars classed as sports, luxury, sports utility vehicle (SUVs) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) - cars that tend to have bigger engines and are likely to use more fuel - were the only ones to see an increase in sales.
Kirk Fletcher, Managing Director of Experian's Automotive division, said: "Despite larger vehicles, such as SUVs, coming under heavy criticism last year for the harm they cause to the environment, the downsizing that had been expected does not appear to have taken place.
"However, that doesn't mean that 2007 will follow the same path. And with the recent Budget announcement that drivers of the most polluting vehicles will face a 30% increase in road tax, it will be interesting to see how sales go over the following year."
Sales of cars aged between 1 and 3 years, which had been sporadic during Q4, have seen a downward trend in the last 2 years. Meanwhile, sales of used cars aged 3 to 6 years old - which had seen increasing sales since 1999 - fell for the first time last year. Indeed, the only used cars to see an increase in sales were those aged between 6 to 9 years old (0.4%). Sales of this age range have risen each year during Q4 since 1999.
08 May 2007 © Moneyextra.com
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