Sales in April were 11.5% up on 2009, which is a good indication that the industry is moving in the right direction. The scrappage scheme during April amounted to only 8% of total sales, with the carmaker incentive schemes really helping to boost overall sales. Kia, Hyundai and Seat are all experiencing significant growth for the year, due to strong sales of small cars.

It will be interesting to see how the industry is supported over the coming months with the formation of the new government. What we need is the economy to experience strong growth to generate an increase in consumer confidence. Ford and Vauxhall have had large drops in sales based on last years performance, with sales being 22% down for Ford and 11% for Vauxhall.

Lord Mandelson said, “If you’re considering buying a new car, you should place your order as soon as possible to avoid disappointment, because the budget is strictly limited.” With only 50,000 new car registrations left within the budget these will soon go, so if you are after a new car part of the scheme we advise buyers to be quick.

Car dealerships should consider advertising the scheme using large impactful banners, informing the public how long they have left to get the £2000 saving. At Portfolio we would recommend Windscreen and car-top display as excellent eye-catching methods of advertising. The scheme extension allows car dealers to make the most of the scheme and should offer some relief for new car sales in the first quarter of the year.

Peugeot is also recalling some of their cars made with Toyota in Europe. They will be carrying out an identical campaign to Toyota to ensure that there is no uncontrolled acceleration. Honda is also recalling over 600,000 cars to fix a faulty switch that could set on fire. You could ask yourself what is going on here. Experienced manufacturers using the latest technology ought to have got it right first time. Just goes to show that the best companies in the world have to own up to their mistakes.

At Portfolio Display we want to hear some good news going on in the Automotive industry. Nissan are creating jobs at their Sunderland plant due to the success from their Qashqai model. This makes a change from the headlines usually shouting about job cuts.

Ford has also just posted an annual profit for the first time in over four years. The manufacturer posted profits of £1.7bn in 2009 compared to a loss of almost $15bn in 2008. They also forecast to make a profit this year, which is very good news considering where they were the year before. Ford had to make many cuts across their whole company which included 9,000 job losses. But the profits will come as good news to the 80,000 employees who managed to keep their jobs.

Most manufacturers still face challenging times ahead, but it is looking as though the worst has passed. Dealerships across the UK will have already set their forecasts for 2010 and also considered what branding their forecourts will need. Keeping dealerships up to date is key to promoting a healthy looking company. Our range of point of sale products, which includes car top panels, pricing units, banners and many other forecourt display products will help to promote dealers during 2010.

Here at Portfolio we are positive that 2010 will be a good year for the new and used car dealers, with increasing online bidding car dealers will need to focus on their forecourt display. We recommend branding your cars with car-top panels and pricing units with a large clear price. We can print everything to match, any colour any logo giving your forecourt a professional branded imagine.

At Portfolio Display we agree with motor industry leaders that the banks should be providing more loans to help with the recovery of the industry from recession. Small to large businesses across the UK also need more support from their banks to aid with cash flow during difficult trading periods.

Cutting back on promotional display is a quick and easy way of reducing a companies outgoings. This should be a companies last resort as marketing during a recession helps to boost companies presence when the market recovers. Products such as banners can help to promote areas of a business that may have taken a dip in sales. They could also be used to promote the sale of old stock, which can then be replaced by fresh new stock that will generate higher profit margins.

By 2015 it is said that the average car will be 5% lighter and have 30% less CO2 emissions than the average car sold today. There are a number of new technologies being developed that will enable manufacturers to reduce their CO2 emissions. This includes the start-stop technology that has already seen the new Freelander 2 adopt this to help reduce its CO2 emissions.

Manufacturers will have emission targets to meet by 2015 due to the European Union legislation, which requires manufacturers to have average fleet emissions of less than 130g/km. Manufacturers are likely to use a combination of electric and hybridisation to achieve their targets.

Portfolio Display has introduced a range of Eco slogan products to its forecourt display range, which includes the Monarch car-top display and the new slogan windscreen display boards. We believe it is important to introduce a range of products that manufacturers and car dealerships will aim to promote as more and more consumers look to purchase low CO2 vehicles in the next few years.

Used car prices have also increased this year by 3.1% due to an increase in higher value nearly new cars being sold and the increasing strength of the economy leading up to Christmas. Why not brand your new and used cars with printed tax disc holders and rear window stickers from Portfolio Display. We offer a full design service with many different designs to choose from.

More interesting statistics that came out in the report are that average CO2 emissions for a new cars bought have fallen by 5.4% to a new level of 149.5g/KM. This reduction shows that customers are starting to think more closely about vehicle emissions and the environment.  For car dealers to take advantage of this we have a fantastic range of green eco slogans for our new and used car top display systems.

There is now funding for less than 82,000 new vehicles so we expect the scheme to finish shortly as the remaining orders are placed. The allocation of order quotas is to try and ensure a smooth closing of the system.

The scheme has been a success which has helped to boost new car sales and also maintain jobs in the car manufacturing sector. The scheme has also had a good impact on the sale of new commercial vehicles, which have taken quite a hit when you look at sales figures year on year.

Portfolio Display can supply motor dealer display products for the scrappage scheme if dealerships want to promote the scheme during the last remaining months. View our forecourt display product range for ideas on how we can help to achieve those last few scrappage scheme sales.

Tata motors is India’s largest vehicle maker and the producer of the world’s cheapest car the Tata nano. It also owns Jaguar and Land Rover and sales on these vehicles are also reported to be up 33% on the previous year.

This is excellent news for an industry which has shown signs of very poor growth on new car sales over the previous 2 years. Portfolio Display has been tracking the sales of new cars quite closely over the last 2 years and we are now starting to see more and more positive reports, after what has been an extremely tough couple of years for motor dealers.

Lets hope that we can see this sort of increase in new car sales with other manufacturers across the globe over the next 12 months.