The British People Have Suddenly Stopped Buying Cars

By Tyler Durden: British people have suddenly stopped buying cars and as BI's Jim Edwards notes, it's not clear why.

As the following chart from Barclays shows, both new- and used-car sales have collapsed...

While the slump in consumer confidence remains a major factor...

But as Edwards notes, a number of other factors are colliding simultaneously to hurt UK car sales:

• The rise of apps like Uber, Gett, and Lyft are making car ownership in urban areas less necessary.
• British people have a close to zero household savings rate, and way too much debt, making further car purchases difficult.
• Consumers are afraid a recession might be coming and have reduced their spending on expensive items.
• The PCP car loan trend may have peaked, flooding the market with nearly new used cars.
• A number of car manufacturers are offering "diesel scrappage schemes" in which they take your old diesel car if you trade in for a newer, cleaner vehicle.
• The government announced it would ban sales of all petrol and diesel cars by 2040.

UK car sales are especially vulnerable to fluctuations in demand because Britain's excess right-hand drive cars cannot be shipped to other areas of Europe, which use left-hand drive models.

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