The majority of dealers have a lower new car order take for the September plate change compared to last year.
The latest Manheim latest dealer sentiment survey reveals that 91% of dealers have a lower order take because of the impact of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), which comes into effect on 1 September.
With stock availability concerns increasing as WLTP looms on the horizon, just over half of those dealers taking part in the survey said they have pre-registered stock in August to ovecome WLTP related issues.
The survey revealed that 14% of dealers admitted to not knowing what WLTP is.
For those dealers surveyed who are aware of WLTP, 82% said WLTP should have been scheduled to avoid the September plate change period.
Head of external relations at Cox Automotive Philip Nothard said: “As we get ever closer to WLTP being implemented, having one in 10 dealers admitting to not knowing what WLTP is, frankly is quite shocking.
“When this new revelation is added to our previous dealer sentiment survey finding that a third of dealers were not aware of when WLTP comes into force, it demonstrates in quite stark terms the amount of confusion and ambiguity that still exists around WLTP.
“There is also a strong consensus of opinion among those surveyed that WLTP will prove a major disrupter to the market with four out of five dealers stating that WLTP should have been scheduled to avoid the September plate change period.
“These dealer concerns along with the lack of awareness and uncertainty that still exists should be deeply concerning to the industry as WLTP gets closer to being implemented.”