March registrations UK

361.

The bumper month for UK registrations, with a brand new model on sale, and they deliver a figure that wouldn't be enough in any month to meet their unambitious annual target.

Not terribly encouraging, is it?

Brouwer wrote:Not terribly encouraging, is it?

Up 780% year on year is definitely encouraging   

There are people waiting in the queue so I imagine the sales figure was limited by supply, they need more leaving the factory...

The targets will be based on increasing numbers of dealers and increasing public awareness during the year, sales will increase.

How many dealers are there now, must work out at about 10 cars per dealer last month which is not a bad figure, the dealers should be happy and more will sign up.

Windy wrote:There are people waiting in the queue so I imagine the sales figure was limited by supply

Cancelled out by those who will have deferred a Jan/Feb purchase to have the new reg.

What will the excuse be next month?

Brouwer wrote:

Windy wrote:There are people waiting in the queue so I imagine the sales figure was limited by supply

Cancelled out by those who will have deferred a Jan/Feb purchase to have the new reg.

What will the excuse be next month?

Doesn't matter what happened in the past, if there are people in the queue then the supply is limited for some reason.

Not sure what you mean by "excuse", the sales target we have seen was for the year, we will not know if they will meet that target until the end of the year.

Sales are up 780%   

Manufacturers traditionally shift a fifth of their total sales in March. Even more when they have a brand new model to sell. MG have failed to sell enough last month - or any month - to be on track to hit their forecast for the year. And that's a pitifully small figure.

It's a disaster. Sorry and all that.

Their first imported batch was 700 units and they've sold over half that in one month and got their highest monthly sales to date I think. Their aim was 3000 - 5000 units, if they carry on like this they'll hit that fine.

I think this is just back orders being fulfilled. Next month will be interesting as it will show whether these back orders were a one-off glut or a rolling average. The March plate-change thing is a distraction here because MG have had supply delays, any plate-change spike will be buried. They've not had a heap of 'showroom' stock lying about for passing punters to buy; they've been selling to order. The key point is whether they are continuing to get new orders in. Signs are good.

I think the question really should be - what will the haters decide to pick fault with next month?!

Not the highest monthly registration in the world but MG UK arent the biggest car company in the world and as already pointed out - its growth, and pretty big growth at that.

Morris Motors wrote:They've not had a heap of 'showroom' stock lying about for passing punters to buy; they've been selling to order.

Er, there's about fifty unsold on AutoTrader.

Is it not still good news that some dealerships have bought stock to sell?!

snifferdog1 wrote:Is it not still good news that some dealerships have bought stock to sell?!

Not when they were mandated to buy by the manufacturer.

How do you know this? Can you show me where this information came from?

Brouwer wrote:Er, there's about fifty unsold on AutoTrader.

So most dealers only have 1 car in their showroom?

I bet they are very reluctant to sell it and have zero!

Windy wrote:

Brouwer wrote:Er, there's about fifty unsold on AutoTrader.

So most dealers only have 1 car in their showroom?

I bet they are very reluctant to sell it and have zero!

Just had a look to see if this was right and I found that:

This dealer has eight: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/dealer/7731/stock/used/cars/mg_motor_uk/mg3/
This one has five: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/dealer/147444/stock/used/cars/mg_motor_uk/mg3/
This one has five too: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/dealer/64870/stock/used/cars/mg_motor_uk/mg3/
So does this one: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/dealer/721103/stock/used/cars/mg_motor_uk/mg3/
This one has twelve: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/dealer/20366/stock/used/cars/mg_motor_uk/mg3/

That's 35 cars among 5 dealers.

Some dealers might not list all of their stock, others might not list anything at all. To be honest, I don't see such a problem with dealers holding stock. It's good practice so long as you can move it on. The holding and advertising of stock is probably an indicator of the more active and enthusiastic MG dealers.

Jobbybob wrote:This dealer has eight: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/dealer/7731/stock/used/cars/mg_motor_uk/mg3/

I was just admiring their colour range:



...have they not looked at the latest smmt figures?



... cars with no colour sell best!

(Nobody buying red this year?)

Michael Edwards of Wigan, has 16 MG'S in stock if you care to look as his site.   

They're certainly filtering through. My local dealer said he's sold no 3Time or 3Form models - only 3Form Sport or 3Style. He says the pricing is so close that people upgrade. They had a confirmed 3Form order which the customer ended up upgrading. Interestingly he also sells Dacia and says he's never sold any of their base models either.

Windy wrote:

Jobbybob wrote:This dealer has eight: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/dealer/7731/stock/used/cars/mg_motor_uk/mg3/

I was just admiring their colour range:



...have they not looked at the latest smmt figures?



... cars with no colour sell best!  

(Nobody buying red this year?)

At least we have white, black, silver and grey to choose from.

I should add that to this thread:

forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=495168

I agree with the observation others have made - it's surprising when they keep harping on about MG's "heritage" that there's no racing green. I guess the Chinese don't buy green cars.

with green cars accounting for around 1% of European car sales (certainly in 2012), at least this is one place where no-one can accuse MG of ignoring the market. Which is nice.

I bet more than 1% of of Mini Coopers, Jaguars, Range Rovers, Bentleys etc are racing green.

If you're going to play the fake Britishness card, play it right or don't play it at all.

Brouwer wrote:I bet more than 1% of of Mini Coopers, Jaguars, Range Rovers, Bentleys etc are racing green.

If you're going to play the fake Britishness card, play it right or don't play it at all.

Those cars are all from German- or Indian-owned groups but I wouldn't call their success "fake".

I walk past a JLR dealer every day, and although the old X-Type was frequently green, no new Jag or Land/Range Rover displayed on their forecourt has been green for years. Silvers, greys, blacks, whites and blues... and now reds and browns.

It's £1200 extra to get an XF in BRG.

Jobbybob wrote:It's £1200 extra to get an XF in BRG.

Goodness! so purely the option cost on seven green XFs = one entire 3Time with no frills!

If "orange" currently seems to mean "fast Focus", those new green cars you actually see are total turbo nutter Fords and Renaults.

Though I can visualise a new MINI in green. (not a Fiat 500 or Fiesta!)

Green is certainly taking its time making a comeback:

Update: I've just (01/2013) been reading an article about the car paint development section of BASF and they expect green to be in in about three years, which is the time they take to develop a colour.

I note "green" is only 1% in that graphic and the only new green cars I have seen recently are turbo nutter Fords for people who think the orange ones are wimpy.

Apparently "green" has been seen as "deliberately environmentally-friendly" (e.g. for hybrids) recently but this is changing to "solid and dependable".

And not "turbo nutter".

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showpost.php?p=5367238&postcount=21