Keep an eye on UK registrations this year: should they rise by much more than 1%, it will be due to forced activity and daily rental sales, according to the UK president and CEO of Kia.

Paul Philpott believes some manufacturers are already heavily discounting their vehicles to push units into the market, encouraged by changes to the euro-sterling exchange rate.

“Manufacturers have spare capacity in mainland Europe and their margins in the UK have increased because of the exchange rate,” Philpott said. “That could have an impact on the new car market here. There are already some big discounts out there.”

He added: “The market is forecast to be flat or a slight increase. If it increases by more than 1% it will be driven by other factors.”