Lookers issue downbeat statement on the UK car industry
Despite yesterday's announcement from Pendragon that the company believes the mountain of unsold cars in the UK is nearly clear, fellow car dealership Lookers has today issued a statement which is a little more conservative to say the least.
While the company recognises that the UK government's £300 million car scrappage scheme has gone a long way to injecting interest into the sector, like many others, the company is concerned that once the scheme is over we could see a sharp decline in activity. Lookers has also highlighted rising unemployment and volatility in the UK financial markets as two more potential reasons why the market could be difficult both in 2009 and 2010.
We are starting to see a definite theme emerge in the UK economy with positive statements followed by downbeat statements and more confusion amongst analysts and economists. While they say the darkest hours come just before the dawn the current trends in the UK economy is proving more difficult to read than ever before. This uncertainty is likely to spook UK consumers and has the potential to break down what confidence has been built up over the last few weeks, something which may take some time to rebuild.
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