New car sales and Covid-19
Hard time for the automotive industry as new car sales dropped to the lowest level since 1971. Unfortunately, we have really shocking numbers and Covid-19 played a huge part in this crashing car market. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), in June 2019 total of 223,421 new cars were sold. Sadly, this figure decreased by 34.9 percent to shocking 145,377 in June 2020.
So, showrooms were unable to open for a couple of months and due to this awful situation car sales dropped. Now we have to look at the saddest – the market is almost 616,000 units, or -48.5%, behind the same period last year.
Hopefully, the light will appear at the end of the tunnel and car sales will start increasing gradually. Showrooms in England were allowed to re-open on 1 June, in Wales on 22 June, and in Scotland on 29 June and that is a very positive step.
“While it’s welcome to see demand rise above the rock-bottom levels we saw during lockdown, this is not a recovery and barely a restart. Many of June’s registrations could be attributed to customers finally being able to collect their pre-pandemic orders, and appetite for significant spending remains questionable.”
“The government must boost the economy, help customers feel safer in their jobs and in their spending and give businesses the confidence to invest in their fleets. Otherwise it runs the risk of losing billions more in revenue from this critical sector at a time when the public purse needs it more than ever.”
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive
Petrol and Diesel cars are losing battle?
Yes, it is really happening. Comparing new car sales in June 2019 and June 2020 we can see a huge skyrocket increase in sales by 73.3% of the four types of vehicles which are powered by electricity:
- Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) – Percentage change increase by 261.8% between June 2019 and June 2020
- Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV) – Percentage change increase by 19.3% between June 2019 and June 2020
- Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) – Percentage change increase by 117.0% between June 2019 and June 2020
- Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicles (MHEV) – Percentage change increase by 59.3% between June 2019 and June 2020
