The Diesel Debate Continues
Friday, 29. June 2018
The Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA) has reported an imbalance in diesel demand which is causing all sorts of headaches with leasing and PCP providers.
New car demand for diesels has dropped through the floorboards causing manufacturers to scale up petrol production whilst dropping off production of diesel cars.
However, demand for used diesel cars is still running at the same level with no sign that it will drop soon. With fewer diesels finding their way into the used car market diesel prices will increase as times goes on.
This could start to make leasing and PCP costs for new diesel cars lower and more competitive again. New car supply has also had an effect on used car prices as people switch to used cars when they can’t get their new car quickly enough.
So there has been a slight increase in demand for nearly new petrol cars created by buyers who would normally buy new and who have decided to go for petrol this time around.
With lower running costs and better fuel consumption, experts feel that diesels are still here to stay even though some manufacturers have announced that they will be dropping their diesel engines fairly soon.
Personally, I feel that they have been a bit premature especially in light of recent reports that the ‘real-world’ emissions testing on petrol and diesel cars have found that there is very little to choose between petrol and diesel emissions.
We are still desperate for guidance from the Government. By Graham Hill
