Breaking news...interest down to 3% but is it too late for car retailers?

By Steve Orme on Nov 6, 08 01:33 PM

The Bank of England may have slashed 1.5% off the base rate but the damage may already have been done to the motor industry.

From the inside I can tell you that Ford is slashing its northern press fleet to eight cars a month, the same company has cancelled sponsorship of regional motoring journalists' meetings on the advice of its finance directorate and Skoda has cancelled a factory visit to the Czech Republic saying it was felt inappropriate in these times of crisis.
What? It's an economic downturn not World War III.
Anyway, the thing is, figures for car sales have slumped. And here they are: they fell 23 per cent in October, making the UK the latest of the world's major car markets to report gloomy monthly sales this week.
Not to worry, some markets are down 40%.
Ford says its numbers are good, a 16.6 per cent share of October's new car sales went blue- an increase of over three percentage points compared with the same month last year.
It is, however, a long road back. I have heard tales of used cars being sold in two-for-one packages.
What really brought the severity of the slump home was hearing free market car dealer Eddie Horse being told by his missus in his office, the Ship Inn, Lathom that he might have to get a job.
This truly is a global crisis and newly-elected President Borat has got his work cut out to afford a new puppy.