UK second-hand car market faces double blow
Ongoing recovery in the new car market means almost 100,000 second-hand buyers have been able to snap up cars less than a year old this year.
These nearly-new purchases help drive business activity and economic growth while ensuring consumer access to more affordable, increasingly zero emission used cars across the country.
This progress is facing a double whammy, however, with government plans to end Employee Car Ownership Schemes and reports of a pay-per-mile tax on EV motoring in the forthcoming Budget, says SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes.
“These measures would stifle both demand and the supply of new cars, while cutting half a billion pounds annually from Treasury income. This is, evidently, a counterproductive approach just as government seeks to prioritise growth and manufacturers are charged with ramping up EV sales,” he said.
More than just cars
Hawes noted that the UK’s automotive sector can be a driver of many government and societal missions and, as this year’s Remembrance commemorations served to remind us, that includes ongoing support to the Armed Forces community.
“Veterans are already widely deployed across the automotive sector, as they offer highly relevant, high-value skills and expertise, and I would urge more companies to explore whether this talent pool would support their own business.
“Initiatives such as government’s Defence Employer Recognition Scheme provides the opportunity to do so, while service leavers themselves considering an automotive career are encouraged to read the Veterans’ Automotive Career Guide.”
