13 more than lucky for some

macplaxton

Found this press release from the UK Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). (my highlighting)

13 more than lucky for some

Posted 10:32 Thursday 29 August 2013

As the March ’13 registration plate’ nears the end of its six-month run and September’s new 63-plate waits in the wings, SMMT has revealed that the 13-plate has outsold the past nine registration plates.

The 13-plate has, up until the end of July, overtaken all previous plates dating back to September 2008. It has been registered to 1,115,459 vehicles since it came into use in March this year and even with the August registrations still to be included, it has outsold the previous plate changes dating back over the last five years.

New 63-plate vehicles are being readied and manufacturer main dealers are bracing themselves for new vehicle deliveries that could see around 390,000 new cars on the road over the 30 days of September.

That means around £6 billion is expected to be spent on new cars as motorists take advantage of affordable finance deals and buy into better fuel efficiency, predictable maintenance and often lower tax bands.

“We have seen a strong performance from the new car market throughout 2013, with the number of cars registered increasing in July for the 17th successive month,” said Mike Baunton, SMMT Interim Chief Executive. “Now we have evidence of consistent growth, we have raised our forecast for 2013 new car registrations to 2.216 million units, an increase of over 8% on last year. In line with this positive trend, we expect the new 63 plate to be very successful and for September registrations to provide a similar peak to that seen in March.”

March is typically the month for the highest number of registrations, with September coming a close second. More than a third of annual registrations occur in March and September combined, with the other months typically each accounting for 6.5% of the annual total.

https://www.smmt.co.uk/2013/08/13-more-than-lucky-for-some/

I think this clearly shows that having 13 on a plate hasn't been a deterrent to sales over the water.

I don't think 13 was ever a real deterrent, it was just to break car sales up throughout the year?

macplaxton

Exactly. People will buy if they have the cash or access to it.

However, if the year was to be split in two, then surely there would have been far better choices than Jan/July for the "peak" registration months?

The UK moved the start of the registration year from Jan to Aug way back in 1967 because they quickly realised that having a load of registration paperwork to do at the end Dec/Jan wasn't very sensible.

CiniO

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't think 13 was ever a real deterrent, it was just to break car sales up throughout the year?

If they really wanted to spread the car sales through the year, they would break reg number over months, instead of just 2 regs per year.

131 - January
132 - February
133 - March
(...)
139 - September
13A - October
13B - November
13C - December.

Or something like that.

rovoagho

Of course it's all about the plate, no other factors are relevant, like the economy for example.

Why the OP would choose to disseminate industry association propaganda is beyond me.

Saab Ed

Ofcourse it wasn't a problem over the water. They don't have Leprechauns, Banshees and all those Magpies to worry about. You just cant compare it like that. Very simplistic comparison.


De activate sarcasm mode ......

macplaxton

Saab Ed wrote: »

Ofcourse it wasn't a problem over the water.

Well it was, then it wasn't, then it wasn't.

At first the DVLA was thinking about giving the option of taking a 62 if the keeper didn't want a 13. Then they rowed back from that position saying it'd be too much hassle (obviously eyeing the prize of flogging some DVLA select plates). Then the sales figures showed it wasn't a problem.

Saab Ed wrote: »

They don't have Leprechauns, Banshees and all those Magpies to worry about.

Yep, they don't go around blessing the roads either.

Saab Ed wrote: »

You just cant compare it like that. Very simplistic comparison.

It's a illustration of what happens when the registration system is just left alone.

It'll be interesting to see the end of year figures for here. If they are up compared to the previous few years, then no doubt SIMI will be shooting their mouth off about the success of the new system. Which we all know is a load of cobblers.

Bebo stunnah

CiniO wrote: »

If they really wanted to spread the car sales through the year, they would break reg number over months, instead of just 2 regs per year.

131 - January
132 - February
133 - March
(...)
139 - September
13A - October
13B - November
13C - December.

Or something like that.

Are ya daft? The way the Irish mindset works the whole 131/132 works now makes a 131 car already 'a year' old when compared to the likes of the old 2 digit way. You'd basically be damning a person that buys a car in January to it being 11 'years' old by Christmas!

Ilik Urgee

I find myself thinking '12s as old now. More than a year old...

What have I become ffs?

Lex Luthor

Ilik Urgee wrote: »

I find myself thinking '12s as old now. More than a year old...

No, just a year old