Sales enquiries for new and used cars combined fell by 5%, year-on-year, during the first quarter of 2018 according to our latest set of data analysis. Orders for new and used cars recorded by UK dealers are also down, by 4% year-on-year, compared to 2017.

Data was gathered from volume and premium brand dealers across the UK from our automotive lead management system, Dealerweb Showroom.

Part of the prominent decline is a result of comparisons with the first three months of 2017, which represented the strongest sales quarter for UK new car sales on record, impacted in part due to changes to vehicle excise duty which came into force last April.

Analysis suggests the total number of new car orders fell by 3% in the first quarter. For used cars, total enquiries (from all sources) fell by 6% and orders fell by 5% compared to Q1 2017.

The general downward trend was offset slightly by the continued growth in online enquiry volumes.

Dealers saw a year-on-year increase of 11% in online (web and email) leads for new and used vehicles during the first quarter of 2018.