At the half-way point of 2018, some big volume players are struggling with challenging market conditions.

The third quarter of this year is likely to be more unpredictable due to the introduction of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), which could see heavy pre-registrations in August to dispose of stock before the September deadline (see the results of AM’s survey on WLTP on page 8). This, in turn, is likely to mean plate-change sales will be lower than expected as a result.

Ford’s registrations fell 13.5% (or 22,775 vehicles) in the first half of the year, to 145,541 units.

Ford’s response for Q3 has been to continue the 0% finance offers it was running in Q2. In fact, the strong 0% support for Ford mirrors the offers it had in Q3 2017, although monthly payments have been adjusted to a slightly higher level than 12 months ago.

However, Ford’s Fiesta, the best seller in June and for the first six months of this year, is still available for £160 over three years at 0% for a Zetec 1.0-litre Ecoboost.

In contrast, Volkswagen, now Ford’s closest rival in terms of volume as Vauxhall’s registrations shrink away, only has offers in place until the end of August, opting to switch its plan of attack for the plate-change month.

VW is discounting its entire SUV range by £500 for anyone who test-drives and buys in July.

The Polo and Golf are at 4.9% and 5.5% respectively, so it’s not a straight fight on APR for those with rival models on their consideration lists. There is the added bonus of VW discounting the Polo by £1,000 and the Golf with £1,500 to any customer that buys on finance.

Nissan is another franchise that has seen some heavy volume reductions in the first half of this year. The Japanese brand has been hit with a 30% decline in registrations over the past six months, likely to be down to a drop-off in demand for its volume seller Juke, which has found itself in a crowded B-segment crossover market and in need of a fresh generation model.

Dealers can’t point to Nissan’s support on finance offers as a culprit for their registration woes. There are some really strong 0% deals on core models the Juke and Qashqai, at £179 and £189 a month respectively.

Nissan’s French alliance partner Renault is seeing double-digit drops too, although to a slightly lesser extent, at 15.2% down at the half-year point, to 34,636 units.

While both franchises will have similar lines of credit funding finance deals across both manufacturers, Renault is offering the majority of its models at 4.9%, including its volume player Clio, rather than the 0% offers for most of Nissan’s range. However, the Captur is still available at 0%, which will help battle against the crowded market, as seen in the example with the Juke.

There could be another sticking point for customers on Renault’s offers – a 6,000-mile limit. That’s fine for those doing short trips in a Clio, but for anyone in a Megane Sport Tourer GT Line dCi 110, likely to be doing more motorway miles, that could mean excess mileage payments when it comes to the end of three years.

While Renault will be making more money with its APR it’s not to the detriment of its model range’s affordability. The mean average payment for Renault’s range is £253 vs £294.80 for Nissan (partly skewed due to the £699 a month GT-R) and many popular models are still under £300 a month.

Model Finance type Deposit Term Monthly payment Final payment APR Offer ends
Ford
Ka+ Active PCP £3,239 36 £145.00 £5,815 3.50% 30/09/2018
Fiesta Zetec 1.0 EcoBoost 100PS 3dr PCP £4,529 36 £160 £6,831 0% 30/09/2018
EcoSport ST- Line 100PS PCP £4,704 36 £220 £7,966 0% 30/09/2018
Focus ST-Line 1.0 EcoBoost 140PS PCP £4,464 36 £229 £7,677 0% 30/09/2018
New Focus Zetec 1.0 EcoBoost 125PS 5dr PCP £5,310 24 £225 £9,735 0% 30/09/2018
C-Max Zetec 1.0 EcoBoost 125PS PCP £6,309 36 £239 £6,756 0% 30/09/2018
Grand C-Max Zetec 1.0 EcoBoost 125PS PCP £6,983 36 £259 £6,962 0% 30/09/2018
Kuga Titanium 1.5 EcoBoost 150PS FWD PCP £5,557 36 £279 £9,543 0% 30/09/2018
Mondeo Titanium Edition 2.0 TDCi 150P PCP £6,278 36 £259 £8,938 0% 30/09/2018
Mondeo Titanium Edition HYBRID Electric 2.0 TiVCT 187PS PCP £6,571 36 £269 £10,185 0% 30/09/2018
Mustang GT 5.0 V8 (Petrol) 6 Speed Manual PCP £6,684 36 £399 £17,712 0% 30/09/2018
S-Max ST-Line 2.0 TDCi 180PS PCP £8,097 36 £289 £11,884 0% 30/09/2018
Galaxy Titanium 2.0 TDCi 150PS PCP £8,743 36 £289 £10,988 0% 30/09/2018
Edge ST-Line 2.0 Duratorq TDCi 180PS PCP £10,253 36 £289 £16,143 0% 30/09/2018
Tourneo Custom Titanium L1 H1 2.0 TDCi 130PS PCP £9,950 24 £279 £16,672 0% 30/09/2018
Ranger Wildtrak 3.2 TDCi 200PS PCP £11,571.64 36 £309 £11,139.00 0% 30/09/2018
Nissan
Leaf N-Connecta PCP £5,293 37 £360.00 £10,450 5.99% 30/09/2018
Qashqai Acenta Tech Pack 1.2 DIG-T PCP £5,499 37 £189 £10,177 0% 30/09/2018
Micra Acenta Limited 1.0 petrol 71PS with optional metallic paint PCP £3,194 37 £149 £5,467 0% 30/09/2018
Pulsar N-Connecta DIG-T 115 PCP £6,023 37 £223 £6,005 8% 30/09/2018
Juke Bose Personal Edition DIG-T 115 PCP £5,754 37 £179 £6,792 0% 30/09/2018
X-Trail N-Connecta DC130 2WD PCP £4,589 37 £356 £11,425 6% 30/09/2018
Navara Double Cab Tekna 2.3DCI 190 4WD manual PCP £11,088 37 £269 £11,768 0% 30/09/2018
370Z 3.7L V6 328PS Base Manual PCP £7,871 37 £229 £13,690 0% 30/09/2018
GT-R 3.8L V6 570PS Pure PCP £17,758.49 37 £699 £43,309.59 5.99% 30/09/2018
Renault
Zoe Dynamique Nav Q90 Quick Charge PCP £3,999 36 £219.00 £4,370 4.9% 01/10/2018
Clio Iconic TCe 75 PCP £199 48 £199 £4,929 4.9% 01/10/2018
Captur PLay TCe 90 PCP £199 48 £199 £5,416 0% 01/10/2018
Kadjar Dynamique Nav dCi 110 PCP £6,126 37 £219 £8,164 5% 01/10/2018
Megane Iconic dCi 110 PCP £3,997 37 £259 £7,174 5% 01/10/2018
Megane Sport Tourer GT Line dCi 110 PCP £5,055 37 £299 £7,896 5% 01/10/2018
Scenic Dynamique S Nav dCi 110 PCP £5,796 37 £289 £9,412 4.9% 01/10/2018
Grand Scenic Dynamique Nav dCi 110 PCP £5,438 37 £299 £9,810 4.9% 01/10/2018
Koleos Dynamique S Nav dCi 130 PCP £5,074 37 £299 £12,706 4.9% 01/10/2018