July saw enquiries for new vehicles increase by 20% on the same month in 2020 while orders jumped by 11.4%, according to new data from lead management experts at Dealerweb.

The cooling of the used market continued with a 10% fall in enquiries and an 8% fall in orders. It follows June data that saw enquiries fall by 7.8% and orders drop 2.4%. The average value of used vehicles sold increased from £19,132 to £21,705.

Commenting on the trend, James Hill, Managing Director of Dealerweb, said: “Dealers across the UK continue to perform strongly despite numerous headwinds. The data has shown a record-breaking first half of the year, with dealer groups seeing strong demand for new and used vehicles. However, the component shortage is undoubtedly having an impact on delivery times, and we are seeing a knock-on effect with price rises for used stock.

“Managing a complex sales process and uncertain market requires a granular view of the customer across the sales team and the ability to understand the strengths and weaknesses across the business. We would encourage dealers to stay close to the data to improve trading performance.”

Dealerweb is expanding its development team to accelerate the pace of innovation to support dealers in a fast-moving market. It is rolling out a series of integrations on its cloud-based Showroom platform to help users work more efficiently. The extensive programme is improving the customer experience and supporting FCA compliance.