I don’t think it follows that just because Motability prices will increase from Q3 that dealers will be pushing hard in Q2 and offering greater incentives. Several reasons; Firstly, only one in every 12 Motability customers will be able to order in Q2 anyway (as there are 12 quarters during a 3 year lease). Secondly, I don’t think that there will be a big drop in Motability customers in Q3. Again, only 1 in 12 will have a lease expiry in Q3 and, given the number of Motability customers who don’t have the up front funds for a deposit on a private vehicle, or who don’t have the confidence to run their own car, I should think that the overwhelming majority of customers will grumble about the increases but will just suck them up – or perhaps trade down to a smaller or lower spec model. As a point of interest, I have been chatting this week to a few people in the motor trade and January has been a strong month, even at a major BMW dealership that is no longer able to take Motability orders. What is still a problem for them is the continuing low take up of EVs. The BMW dealership is only selling one in every five cars as an EV (which surprised me, given the huge range of them that they now sell) and the Dealer Principal of a major Ford group tells me they are only at one in four sales being an EV. Surprisingly, the announcement of the pence per mile charge hasn’t slowed sales any more, although I wasn’t surprised at his view that it’s only a matter of time before charges on EVs will equal the fuel duty that ICE car drivers pay, as a few of us have been saying that for a while.
I went to see BMW back in 2024. Their Motability model. To my taste and technical understanding, Skoda Enyaq 85X 4X4 had way much more to offer as well as the internal design of BMW on the scheme was awfully disappointing.
My thoughts re Q2 were that the likes of EV5 / Mini Countryman (I wonder why it is not a Countryperson yet), Id4 and Enyaq (their top trim) will reduce the prices to sell more exactly because of your point, which echoes well with what discussed in various chats below – the majority will remain, but may downsize.
Sent from a mobile device.
Apologies for briefness and spelling mistakes.
Motability Skoda Enyaq SportLine 85x April 2024 (unhappy customer - Ombudsman pending)
Motability Mazda CX-60 PHEV July 2023 (unhappy customer - early termination on mechanical grounds)
Motability VW Touran Family Pack May 2019 (happy customer)