Peter Vosper: Are you waiting for a grant on your intended electric car
purchase?

No new cars have been added to the government’s list of eligible cars since last week and September is underway.

Many new car buyers are hoping to conclude a purchase in September but are waiting to see if their intended purchase will receive the £3750 government grant and therefore reduce their cost.

The Ford Puma Gen-E and the Ford E-Tourneo Courier are still the only vehicles appearing as eligible on the Government website on the 9^th September and some manufacturers have not concluded their offers for September.

There are several more cars that qualify for £1500 including 7 Citroens, one Cupra, 2 DS,s, 2 Nissans, 6 Peugeots, 5 Renaults, 2 Skodas, 2 Toyotas, 7 Vauxhalls, and one Volkswagen. The difference is substantial when comparing monthly payments on personal contract plans, or contract hire agreements.

The Chinese brands have already introduced price reductions to compare with the grant, and it is evident that they will increase their shares of the market in September. 

The market figures were down again in August, but the market is smaller in this month whereas September is usually a peak month because of the registration change (75 this year).

The government’s hope was the grant would stimulate the sale of electric vehicles and help to reach their objectives for the year but with the lack of vehicles currently eligible for the £3750 this seems unlikely to happen.

Many buyers are hoping to reduce their monthly payments and are comparing the electric new cars offers to see how this can be achieved. This is possible by reducing the size of your car or moving to a newer model which is a used car but still covered by manufacturer’s warranty.

It is possible to extend the period of the contract, but buyers need to understand 5-year agreements mean it can need further cash input if your circumstances change during that period and you want to up or downsize.

As the month progresses more part-exchanges will arrive at dealerships and more used cars will be available. 

Some manufacturers are keeping sales up by selling packages of cars to large fleet owners and rental companies to keep stocks under control.

The van market continues to decline as business users look for ways to cut their costs to pay for the increased bills particularly in employment costs due to the changes in minimum wage and National Insurance payments.

Energy costs are also forecast to increase this winter along with other expenses and the alternate of making redundancies is not the wish of most businesses, although they will probably hold back on further employment.

Potential buyers should keep watching for additions to the grant money and/or manufacturer offers where they know they will not meet the requirements and make their own reductions. Talk to your local dealer and make comparisons on all costs including fuel, servicing and warranties. 

Motability qualifiers should look for new product appearing as the month progresses.