Diesel vehicles now account for 40% of all UK car sales

[st13phil]

According to this story

 

[jeremytaylor]

More of a surprise is the BMW 3-series outselling the Megane and Clio, as well as Vectra, Mondeo, Passat ... etc. etc.

Common as muck

 

[chriswt]

I'm not surprised at all. When it comes to lower powered/everyday cars the Diesel option is always going to be a better bet in terms of overal performance.

Why would anyone buy a 2.0 petrol Mondeo/Passat etc when the 2.0tdi version out performs it and gives you a better mpg and resale value.

 

[mr. shr]

I wonder what percentage of Mercs on UK roads are diesel?

Very high I'd say. Thinking I might join them with my next purchase.

 

[st13phil]

More of a surprise is the BMW 3-series outselling the Megane and Clio, as well as Vectra, Mondeo, Passat ... etc. etc.

Common as muck

Which is one of the reasons I spent my money on a C-Class. Some of us don't like to follow the herd

 

[peterg1965]

More of a surprise is the BMW 3-series outselling the Megane and Clio, as well as Vectra, Mondeo, Passat ... etc. etc.

Common as muck

Mine is no 'ordinary' 3 series!

 

[peterg1965]

Which is one of the reasons I spent my money on a C-Class. Some of us don't like to follow the herd

Herd? This cow is obviously a loose canon and has gone off and bought a Mercedes!

 

[st13phil]

A few more interesting stats gleaned from the SMMT site regarding sales volumes by manufacturer:

• Mercedes-Benz with 82,321 units ranked 11th and took 3.42% of the UK market
• Audi with 100,864 units ranked 9th (4.20%)
• BMW with 121,575 units ranked 6th (5.06%)
• No surprise that Ford were #1 with 348,982 units (14.52%)
• Lexus ranked 27th with 15,119 units (0.63%)
• Mercedes-Benz outsold Nissan, Fiat, Mazda, Skoda & SEAT

 

[crockers]

Looking at those stats - and allowing for the BMW 3 series to be a common sight - it is surprising that Ford has outsold BMW, Mercedes and AUdi combined.....

 

[Mudster]

You still have to be doing a reasonable mileage to warrant a Diesel over the equivalent petrol model though.

When taking into account Higher initial purchase cost, higher servicing costs, higher cost of diesel etc.....the break even, depending on model of course, is usually around 18,000 to 25,000 miles a year.

Under that level of mileage the petrol equivalent is currently the better deal for most of the common vehicles on the road - say, Mondeo Petrol vs Mondeo Diesel or Audi A4 petrol/diesel.

Now this figure used to be closer to 30,000 miles a year so it's moving in the right direction, but it's still more business focused than individual.

BTW, a good guide is to take a look at the maintained lease value of the vehicle.

My employees drive Diesels as they generally do over 25,000 miles a year - but I only do around 15,000 so I get a petrol....although that's rather a mute point seeing as I've ordered a C63 anyway..

 

[crockers]

You still have to be doing a reasonable mileage to warrant a Diesel over the equivalent petrol model though.

When taking into account Higher initial purchase cost, higher servicing costs, higher cost of diesel etc.....the break even, depending on model of course, is usually around 18,000 to 25,000 miles a year.

Under that level of mileage the petrol equivalent is currently the better deal for most of the common vehicles on the road - say, Mondeo Petrol vs Mondeo Diesel or Audi A4 petrol/diesel.

Now this figure used to be closer to 30,000 miles a year so it's moving in the right direction, but it's still more business focused than individual.

BTW, a good guide is to take a look at the maintained lease value of the vehicle.

My employees drive Diesels as they generally do over 25,000 miles a year - but I only do around 15,000 so I get a petrol....although that's rather a mute point seeing as I've ordered a C63 anyway..

In your calculations have you taken into account depreciation?


Hope you enjoy your C63...

 

[Mudster]

In your calculations have you taken into account depreciation?


Hope you enjoy your C63...

Yes - not strictly my calculations though.

Fully maintained contract Hire prices give a better indication than anything else. These are quite an eye opener.

What you generally find is the diesel is worth more than the petrol by approximately the premium it was over the petrol when new.

This means the increased servicing and fuel costs need more miles to overcome the difference by gains made in fuel economy.

Of course if we're looking at say a ML320 or an ML 320 CDI the figures may be different, but we're talking large volume normal cars really aren't we.

I spent about two months running through all these figures with my accountant - which also takes into consideration taxation issues....

We came to the same conclusion about the two Saab's we leased.....over 20,000 miles p.a. the diesel was cheaper, under that, the petrol was the one to go for.

I would deduce though that of that 40% of diesel cars sold, an overwhelming proportion of that would have been business and not private sales.

 

[maddog]

In many cases the diesels are more attractive , i felt the E320 CDI was simply a better car than the E320

Some manufacturers are deliberatly have range topping diesels and Audi have announced a R8 with a diesel engine.

I would think that the VAG diesels are a big pull as well

 

[st13phil]

I would deduce though that of that 40% of diesel cars sold, an overwhelming proportion of that would have been business and not private sales.

I would suspect that you're right, because for a "perk" user (like I am until I hand back the keys and start paying for my own Benz) the mix of better fuel economy and lower CO2-based BIK scale charges are quite compelling. The funny thing is, now I'm spending my own money again I'm going for a diesel even though the economics aren't so clearly in favour of that over a petrol. Fact is, after 8 years of driving them I enjoy the power delivery of a diesel. Unless it's a high performance "screamer" petrol engine, that is

I would think that the VAG diesels are a big pull as well

I know there were other manufacturers that had good diesel offerings 10 years ago, but it was the diesel Passat that revolutionised the UK market for diesel engined cars, IMO. Then came VW's 1.9 PD engines which were the first ones in mass market cars that performed well with a power band more than 1,000rpm wide, and they offered great fuel economy to boot. The rest is history, as they say.

 

[glojo]

Which is one of the reasons I spent my money on a C-Class. Some of us don't like to follow the herd

I do hope it's not silver or black? or any shade of those colours

John

 

[st13phil]

I do hope it's not silver or black? or any shade of those colours

Does metallic grey count as a shade of silver?

 

[jeremytaylor]

but it was the diesel Passat that revolutionised the UK market for diesel engined cars, IMO.

I would say that accolade belongs to the PSA XUD diesel, particularly in the Peugeot 405 and Citroen BX, amongst many other models.

 

[st13phil]

I would say that accolade belongs to the PSA XUD diesel, particularly in the Peugeot 405 and Citroen BX, amongst many other models.

A valid point and I thought of those too, but that's why I made the reference to the 1,000rpm power band in my post above. Good as they were, the narrow power band meant I often found myself in the wrong gear when I drove one of the Pug's of that era and that just didn't happen with the VAG power units. Add in the fact that French cars had always been viewed with a degree of suspicion in the UK market (just look at the residuals), and that's why I plumped for the Passat as the one that changed the UK buyer's perception of diesel cars.

 

[glojo]

A valid point and I thought of those too, but that's why I made the reference to the 1,000rpm power band in my post above. Good as they were, the narrow power band meant I often found myself in the wrong gear when I drove one of the Pug's of that era and that just didn't happen with the VAG power units. Add in the fact that French cars had always been viewed with a degree of suspicion in the UK market (just look at the residuals), and that's why I plumped for the Passat as the one that changed the UK buyer's perception of diesel cars.

I think it fair to say the Europeans showed the way. The old Citreon CX 2400D was a real flying machine for it's era, but depreciation ??

John

 

[verytalldave]

Before I purchased my W203 C200K I drove both petrol and diesel equivalents. I really didn't like the sound of the diesel. The difference in MPG is not huge, so I figured it made sense for me to buy the car I preferred - even if it does mean smaller residuals. I know I would not feel the way I do now about my car if I had bought the diesel.