Glass\u2019s is forecasting new car registrations will rise 4% in April to 170,000 units as the boom in retail sales continues.<\/p>\n
Glass\u2019s has pencilled in a 5% increase in registrations for the full year, a significant mark-up on the 1.2% increase from the official SMMT forecast, which is due to be revised.<\/p>\n
Glass\u2019s said that while it was early days yet, the outlook looked promising.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, there is still a long way to go. However, a key point to consider, as we venture into Q2, is that the market would now have to go into contraction during the remainder of the year in order to \u201chit\u201d a growth target of 1%.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a marketplace where inflation is falling and economic confidence is growing, that would appear to be an increasingly unlikely scenario indeed,\u201d said Andrew Jackson, head of analytics at Glass\u2019s.<\/p>\n
The year has got off to a strong start. March 2014\u2019s new car registrations rose a surprising 17.7% to 464,824 units. It was the best March performance since the twice-yearly plate change was introduced 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
It was also the 25th consecutive month of growth in a market fuelled by retail sales, up 21%. Q1 sales are up 13.7% to 688,122 units.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"