The pros and cons of buying a new car in December

Next year most cars will be more expensive. In addition, experience shows us that, after the holidays, as financial year-end closings approach, dealerships and manufacturers increase their discounts and promotions, so there is no doubt that buying a new car in December has quite a few advantages and some drawbacks. But let us argue our case.

Buying a new car in December because the numbers back it up

To begin with, statistical studies show that car prices fall noticeably in December, as they do in August, due to low demand during the summer month par excellence in our country. However, the last month of the year turns out to be one of the best months to buy a new car.

Moreover, statistics also show that Mondays are the days when the best discounts or deals can be squeezed out of a dealership, so you still have time to take advantage of the last two Mondays left in 2020.

As we mentioned, the year-end closing means dealerships must clear the stock they have or close purchase-sale contracts for units not yet received by 31 December at 23:59… which does not stop you from getting a reduced price by being able to apply the 2020 tariff rather than the 2021 one.

The government encourages it…

A price that, as we noted earlier, will suffer an increase on more than half of the vehicles currently sold as a result of the end of the moratorium granted in 2018 to manufacturers that exceeded polluting emissions limits.

An increase in registration tax due to the definitive adjustment of the WLTP homologation cycle, which will cause a rise in the price of new cars from 1 January 2021.

On the other hand, you can still benefit from the aid and incentives for buying new and more efficient cars that the state government and some regional plans launched to boost the automotive industry’s supply chain. Although in some cases funds are still available, which suggests that both the Moves Plan and the Renove Plan could remain in place for a few months into 2021, the initial framework established that they would be active until 31 December 2020, so it is best not to take the risk.

… and banks prefer it

At the European level, credit institutions have received incentives from the European Central Bank so as not to limit lending in 2020, which makes nominal interest rates (TIN) more competitive now than in a few weeks’ time.

You may run into the DGT

Finally, there is the question of the new DGT environmental labelling. The coloured stickers could undergo changes, such as the hypothetical removal of mild hybrids from the ECO label or a tightening of vehicles classified as ZERO, which could mean that a car with one of these labels registered on 31 December ends up with a different one after the entry into force of the new regulatory framework, which would classify the energy efficiency of newly registered vehicles from a different perspective from its activation onwards.

Why you should not buy a new car in December

The only significant reason that could really be a drawback of buying a new car in December is the depreciation of the car itself.

According to what is established, a car’s depreciation is governed by its year of registration. That is, it makes no difference whether a car was registered on 2 January 2019 or on 31 December: either way it has lost roughly 20 per cent, even though in real life there is almost a year’s difference between their registrations.

In any case, the decision, whether in favour or against, must be taken by whoever is thinking about buying a new car in December or waiting until January to do so.