67% of dealers remain optimistic

Almost seven out of 10 dealers are optimistic about their prospects for the rest of 2018, according to a new survey from RAC Dealer Network.

38% described their expectations as ‘positive’ and 29% ‘very positive’ while 26% were ‘neutral’ and just 8% ‘negative’ or ‘very negative.’

Meanwhile, 33% said that business performance in 2018 had been ‘somewhat better than expected’ and 9% ‘much better than expected’ while 30% said ‘as expected’ and 19% ‘somewhat worse than expected’ and 8% ‘much worse than expected.’

Sean Kent, sales director at the RAC Dealer Network said that the research showed that, whatever the state of the new car market, the used sector was prospering.

‘The respective performances of the new and used car markets are sometimes quite different and this appears to be one of those times. While the new market is feeling the effect of the movement against diesel, higher prices, decreased manufacturer support for finance and more, there appears to be something of a boom underway for used vehicles.’

The research from April 2018 covers the opinions of 112 independent dealers from within the 1,330 who are members of the RAC Dealer Network.