British fleets are facing a worsening car supply, leading to significant disruption for businesses across the country…
Fleet Car Supply Worsens
According to the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), fleet car supply is getting worse in many parts of the country; with all regions being affected to some extent. It’s also noted that there are few signs of improvement on the horizon.
The latest car registration figures have revealed that new car registration figures fell by 24.3% last month. This meant that it was the worst June performance since 1996. New car registrations to large fleets also fell by more than a quarter (27.6%). For companies with less than 25 vehicles, registrations dropped by 5.3%. The AFP has also noted that, whilst EV registrations are rising, their supply problems can “generally be doubled”.
Closed Order Books
Paul Hollick, chair for AFP, commented on the car supply situation. He said, “some fleet managers are telling us that drivers are having to go through the process of choosing a new car half a dozen times before finding one for which a manufacturer will even provide a production slot – and that date is likely to be a year or more away. Other manufacturers have closed their order books either completely or for certain models”.
He continued, “even when cars can be obtained, they are often being delivered without meeting the order specification. The wrong colour is fairly commonplace but equipment is often missing – parking sensors seem to be a particular issue – with no resulting adjustment in price”.
Somewhat depressingly, Hollick concluded “it is very difficult to know when the underlying supply issues will start to noticeably improve but with the degree of order backlog that exists, we don’t expect to see any real change for at least a year or probably longer”.
UK Fleets To Invest Nearly £14 Billion In EVs During 2022 – https://autoservefleet.co.uk/latest-news/uk-fleets-to-invest-nearly-14-billion-in-evs-during-2022/
A Third of Drivers May Switch To Public Transport Due To Fuel Prices – https://autoserve.co.uk/motoring-news/a-third-of-drivers-may-switch-to-public-transport-due-to-fuel-prices/