It probably hasn’t been a great year for Jeremy Clarkson. But can the same be said for petrol heads as a whole? Whilst consumers in general have been benefiting from falling food, clothing and energy prices, what has been happening to fuel, car, and auto part costs? With the hotly anticipated new series of Top Gear set to get underway, I thought it would be worth taking a peak under the bonnet.

1. Slide 1

2. Petrol Head Index
A measure of motoring related goods, services & expenditures taken from the ONS
Consumer Price Index. The Petrol Head Index (PHI) includes the following 7 CPI indices
which are weighted accordingly:
07.1 Purchase of vehicles
07.1.1 A New cars
07.1.1 B Second –hand cars
07.2 Operation of personal transport equipment
07.2.1 Spare parts & accessories
07.2.2 Fuels & lubricants (includes petrol & diesel)
07.2.3 Maintenance & Repairs
07.2.4 Other services Inflation (e.g. car wash, parking charges MoT fees etc)
12.5 Insurance
12.5.4 Transport insurance

3. The Petrol Head Index has recorded more extreme
rates of inflation / deflation than the UK’s CPI Index

4. Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been flat since 2014
while the Petrol Head Index has been falling

5. Prices of spare parts & accessories & 2nd hand car prices
fall in 2015. New car prices / repair & maintenance fees rise

6. Motor fuel in its 4th
year of declines while ‘other services’
prices rise in each of the last 20yrs. Insurance +10% in 2016

7. Transport insurance & motor fuel (petrol & diesel
costs) moving in different directions

8. The annual fuel costs of running a Nissan Qashqai
have been fallen from almost £1,400 (diesel) to £1,000

9. Nissan Qashqai drivers are into their 4th
year of falling
fuel costs with a £369/379 cumulative gain so far

10. The more you drive the more you save!

11. Average weekly petrol prices have risen by over 6%
since the start of the year

12. Average weekly diesel prices have accelerated by
over 8% since their low in February

13. Rising petrol and diesel prices suggest further
increases in the Petrol Head Index can be expected

14. Brent crude oil price (in £) up almost 1/3rd
since the
start of 2016…more petrol price rises in the pipeline

15. Interest rates for car loans remain close to record lows

16. Second hand car prices fell at their fastest rate in 7
years (-5.6%) in 2015 with new car prices up 2% y/y

17. UK new car price inflation eases from 1.1% y/y in March
to 0.3% in April. 2nd
hand car prices fall by 6.9% in April

18. Spare parts & accessories posted their first annual decline
last year since 2001. Cost of servicing & repairs post rise

19. Productivity puzzle? Improved fuel consumption due to
improved efficiency & downsizing in car / engine size

20. Slide 20
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