December sales success sees 38.9% lift - December saw many dealers and carmakers begin highlighting the January 1 return to 17.5% VAT.
This was an opportunity to encourage prospective buyers to put down their deposit on a new car ahead of the 2.5% increase.
This, and continuing scrappage offers, helped lift December’s registrations by 38.9% to 150,936 units from December 2008’s 108,691 units.
That put it well ahead of pre-recession December 2007’s 137,960 units and made it the third best December on record and highest since 2005.
Scrappage accounted for a provisional 20.8% of December 2009 volumes, according to the SMMT.
The volume shifters of the month were Ford, Volkswagen, Vauxhall, BMW, Peugeot, Mercedes-Benz, Citroën, Nissan and Toyota. 
Volkswagen and Peugeot both took significantly larger slices of the total LCV pie in 2009, and even clear market leader Ford managed to stretch its neck out further by almost 0.5 percent-age points.
Hardest hit segments were heavy vans (2.5-3.5t gvw), down 40.1% to 106,352 units, light vans (up to 2t gvw), down 39.9% to 34,167 units, and pick-ups, down 24.2% to 18,870 units.
The Scrappage Incentive Scheme has had a limited impact on new LCV sales.
Latest estimates suggest it accounted for less than 5% of van registrations in 2009.
(AM Online, 11.01.10)

Rapleys warns dealership closures in 2010 - This year will see further consolidation in the automotive property market, according to property consultant Rapleys LLP, with dealers disposing of more "unprofitable outlets".
Empty showrooms - Rapleys estimated that by the close of 2009 there were "at least" 250 motor showroom properties vacant and on the market with "little demand from within the trade".
As a result property values are down 30 to 40 per cent from where they were at the height of the market.
In its overview of the market for 2010 Rapleys said there were "few signs" of an upturn, the re-introduction of 17.5 per cent VAT and the end of scrappage in February were bad for business and dealers feared the reduced volumes of new cars sold over the past couple of years will see reduced aftersales in the future.
Extremely challenging
"We anticipate 2010 will remain extremely challenging for those operating in the sector and we see yet further consolidation occurring through a combination of distressed and corporate insolvencies and the closure of smaller, more peripheral trading outlets."
But it added that there are now "several well funded dealer groups actively seeking to pick up opportunities" and it was likely to see one major group purchase during the course of 2010.  It said the petrol forecourt and roadside markets were showing much more promising signs of recovery. (Mototrader, 14.01.10)

Van market hit hard as sales fall by more than 35% - 2009 was a tough year for the new light commercial vehicle market, which ended the period 35.61% down on 2008’s registrations.
Even with an armoury of highly competitive offers and the scrappage scheme manufacturers and dealers have had to fight to encourage businesses to invest in replacing their fleets.
Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive, said: “Van demand dropped sharply in 2009, though eased at the year-end.
"Business demand and consumer confidence remains low and the effects of recession will be slow to clear in key parts of the commercial vehicle markets.
“It is essential that Government helps to sustain economic recovery by encouraging capital investment and more affordable finance.”
Declining fortunes at some heavy van specialists, including LDV, Vauxhall, Iveco and Fiat, created opportunities for market share gains for several of their rivals.
(AM Online, 13.01.10) 

Sarkozy leans on Renault to produce Clios in France - President Sarkozy has moved to strengthen his influence at Renault amid efforts to prevent the French carmaker building the next generation of its Clio model in Turkey.
With economic patriotism sweeping through the French political class, the President summoned Carlos Ghosn, Renault’s chief executive, for a meeting this weekend while his aides said that he was preparing to appoint six directors to the manufacturer’s board.
Mr Sarkozy’s strong-arm tactics brought an immediate response from the company, which said that it was ending production of the Clio in Spain and Slovenia in an apparent attempt to ensure work for factories in France.
The President’s threat to take up the State’s full quota of directors would represent a notable change in its relationship with Renault, which was privatised in 1996. Although the Government retains a 15 per cent stake, it has taken a back-seat role on the board, where there is only one Finance Ministry representative among the 18 directors.
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
Mr Sarkozy’s move comes amid a fierce row over Renault’s reported plan to build the new Clio IV at its plant in Bursa, Turkey, rather than its factory in Flins, outside Paris. Unions and politicians fear that this would lead to job losses at Flins, which employs 3,300 workers and which Renault wants to specialise in the manufacture of electric vehicles.
Christian Estrosi, the Industry Minister, who summoned Patrick Pélata, Renault’s managing director, for a meeting yesterday, said: “When a French car is destined to be sold in France, it must be produced in France.” He pointed out that the French Government had given €3 billion (£2.7 billion) in loans to both Renault and Peugeot Citroën, France’s second-largest carmaker, last year to help them through the economic crisis. “When we support them to the tune of €6 billion, we can have our say,” he said.
Éric Woerth, the Budget Minister, described Renault’s plan as “unacceptable ... We cannot have French people buying cars at the same time as losing jobs. We have to think about an economic model which enables factories to remain in France.”
Production of the existing Clio is split between Flins, which made 125,400 cars last year, Bursa, 179,500, and Valladolid, in Spain, 24,450. The factory at Novo Mesto in Slovenia made 17,000 Clio Campus cars in the first half of last year.
“Whatever happens, there will still be Clios produced at Flins — that’s very clear,” said Mr Pélata, who added that no final decision had been made on the production sites for the Clio IV.
A spokesman for Renault said that there was no plan for layoffs at Flins or for the plant to shut.
Mr Estrosi said: “Our message seems to have got through. Carlos Ghosn will hear it even more loudly in the coming days from President Sarkozy.”
Analysts said that it would be hard for the company to stay competitive if it continued to produce its smaller models in France. They forecast an acceleration of a trend that has led to the proportion of Renault vehicles produced in French factories falling from 46 per cent to 25 per cent in the past five years. (Times, 14.01.10)