Top Insights on the second of Auto Trader 'Market Report'

Auto Trader has spoken to thousands of British motorists to find out what they think about buying and selling cars.

Auto Trader today launched the second bi-annual Market Report, which looks at the major trends that affect how consumers buy and sell their cars. Much has changed since the first report back in February: Britain has decided to leave the EU; there were some significant developments in the scandal involving the car manufacturer; and, millennium are more concerned than ever about the price of doing significant purchases, including cars.

Five key trends of Auto Trader Market Reports cover Brexit, confidence in the automotive industry, the young car buyers, the price of buying a car, and the cost of owning one.

transparent pricing is the most important factor in car buying process

Perhaps not surprisingly, more than three quarters of car buyers claim the car transparent pricing is the most important factor when it comes to purchasing. Consumers consider it more important than history check or sales person.

Lack of transparency may even lead consumers to change their buying decisions at all. Nearly 40% of consumers who intended to buy a car within the past six months, but did not complete the process, said they found vague, difficult to find, or misleading information, which in turn, make the car buying process more stressful, take more time than expected, delaying the righteous, or make them look elsewhere.

One-fifth of new car buyers recently discovered are unclear, difficult to find or misleading information in their latest research to buy a car, too.

Consumers claim the EU Referendum result will not affect their car buying intentions

A month before the EU Referendum vote took place, 75% of consumers said their car-buying intentions would not be influenced by the outcome. This then rose to 89% a month after the Brexit result. 

The sentiment among car manufacturers and some dealership groups remains stable, too. Many businesses have claimed that, although an initial period of uncertainty may affect consumer confidence, they believe the market will return to the normal healthy levels of consumer spending in the medium term. 

Post-referendum, 29% of consumers are even looking to upgrade their car to a more expensive model, although there was a 9% decrease in consumers claiming they were considering a new car. 

Concerns about the cost of running a car rose in 2016

Already there is a reasonable increase in the concerns of UK drivers have with the cost of running a car. Seeing all financial commitments, including paying the mortgage, go on vacation, pay for education and so on, 50% of consumers say they are concerned about the cost of running a car in the current economic climate. This figure is up by 18% in the last six months alone.

Nevertheless, the number of consumers planning to change to a more efficient or fuel-efficient cars fixed costs year-on-year stable: 62% said they plan to buy fuel-efficient cars more, and 63% say they want a better car cheap to run. This may be due to market conditions are stable and profitable.

Younger car buyers have the biggest concerns about the future of car prices

Concerns about the future of new and used car prices are mostly shared by younger car buyers. Although the Brexit outlook seemed positive among consumers, 73% of 17-24 year olds think new car prices will rise following the UK’s decision to leave the EU. This is compared to 30% of 65+ year olds, and 34% of 55-64 year olds. Only 10% of 17-24 year olds think new car prices will remain the same. 

Young buyers are also concerned about the cost of used car prices post-Brexit, with 37% of 17-24 year olds thinking prices will rise. Compared to the same period last year, the Auto Trader Retail Price Index shows that used car prices have indeed risen by 5.3% over the six months between February to July, but this is apparently not unusual due to seasonal trends. 

Only 7% of UK consumers claim to trust a used car dealership

The belief has always been an important factor for businesses. Although there has been a global increase in confidence over the last year in business, government and media - with the UK consumer has a 2% increase in trust in the overall business - trust in the automotive industry is significantly down. It fell 6% globally last year, with a decrease of 9% since 2014 (69-60%). This of course be partly due to the scandal in 2015 emissions.

And trust in the used car industry is even worse, because only 7% of consumers claim to believe the UK used car dealership - a figure lower than the trust estate agents, banks, and finance companies.

However, the perception of British car buyers are far worse than reality. According to car buyers who have bought cars in the past six months, only 7% said they did not trust the dealer they buy from, with 68% claiming a significant level of trust, and 25% were indifferent.

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