04/05/2010

To Westbury, to see the Motability and ING cars go through.

Where the hell is everybody?

Talking to the few who were there, it became apparent that most people are using the Bank Holiday and making a week of it, which seems sensible. Those few who were there were 'here for a bit of price range', which again made some sense. However, since it was so quiet I decided to head over to Bristol, having checked that my expected contact would be there, since it would be so busy ...

Where the hell is everybody?

In a sort of Groundhog Day with cars, I parked in the first rank from the door - unlike last time I was here - and walked into a near-empty hall. Again I was told that everyone was making a week of it, and that the people here were after 'a bit of price range'. It was hardly a huge sample, but the dealers felt that list prices, for all the 0% finance and car swappage, were a bit of a stumbling block and that they wanted to get some stock in that had a definite margin in it. There's still the same appetite for 4x4s, anything a bit quirky - but not a lot quirky - and a lack of enthusiasm for the bread & butter stuff that used to be their bread & butter. They were still pretty upbeat, and the general feeling was that the market was chugging along roughly where it should be.

What happens in the following months, when the effects of a ten-day freeze on all the rental companies starts to kick in, is another question. It may well have the same delaying effect as the snow did earlier this year. At this rate, it'll still be August when it's Christmas.