Research into pre-registration activity has revealed a 5% increase in 17/17 plate volumes on 16/16 plate volumes in May, according to Cap HPI, a lower figure than anticipated. It called for greater transparency on the issue.

The automotive data provider studied 17/17, and 16/16 plate used vehicles advertised on digital platforms. 

Philip Nothard (pictured), consumer and retail specialist at Cap HPI, said: “The increase is much smaller than we’ve observed in previous years, despite record new car sales.

“The industry needs far more transparency in this area to enable everyone from manufacturers to dealers to plan more accurately. 

“We continually adjust values to account for the balance of demand against volume in the market.

“These are reflected on a daily basis in our Black Book Live product.  There may well be a knock on effect to older cars as a consequence of the price points of nearly-new to compete with the strong new car offers available.” 

The city car segment saw a 7% increase in late-plate vehicles and SUV and 5% increase when comparing May 2017 to the same point in 2016.  

“The market over the first part of 2017 is characterised by strong demand and has proven relatively stable for used values. We do tend to see some price erosion take place through the summer months as retail demand eases due to the holiday period.”  

16:16 v 17:17 plate volumes (year-on-year)

Sector name	2016:16 2016	2017: 17 2017
City car	1773	1901
Convertible	327	317
Coupe cabriolet	42	85
Electric	17	15
Executive	382	341
Large executive	44	43
Lower medium	1771	1587
Luxury executive	12	14
MPV	564	807
Sports	180	185
Supercar	12	6
Supermini	2406	2736
SUV	1924	2021
Upper medium	902	843
Totals	10356	10901