Despite the challenges posed in the last year, electric vehicles continued to perform above and beyond expectations. In December, sales of battery (BEV) and plug-in-hybrid (PHEV) electric vehicles accounted for over a third (33%) of all sales. Across the whole of 2021, this figure was 19%, compared to just 11% in 2020.
Could the tide be finally turning for new car sales with forecourts gradually getting busier and many dealers are working overtime to get cars to customers who have already placed orders. But the patchy supply of new vehicles continues to peg back the number of sales dealers can make.
Plug-in vehicle uptake rates have accelerated so rapidly that SMMT forecasts that more will join Britain’s roads in 2021 than during the whole of 2010 to 2019 combined. Businesses and consumers are expected to take up around 287,000 of the latest zero-emission capable cars by the end of the year.
Total registrations for Q2 2021 fell short of industry expectations by around 9,000 units partly as the ongoing global semiconductor shortage acted as a limiting factor on supply. As a result, overall registrations for the first half of the year are down -26.8%.
Pent-up demand for motors is great news for dealers across the country, however there are questions around the ability of manufacturers to meet this huge appetite. Used cars are continuing to hold value as people ordering new vehicles have to deal with extended wait times, and the prospect of bouncing back to 2019 registration levels still seems a little way off.
The latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed that this year’s monthly total dwarfed that recorded in April 2020, when the first national lockdown effectively shut the country, and just 4,321 cars were registered.
One year on from the first lockdown in March 2020, the new car market recorded its first growth since August with 29,280 more units registered compared to the same month last year, according to figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Latest figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that the industry recorded its lowest February uptake since 1959, with 51,312 new cars registered. Registrations of petrol and diesel cars were [...]
Against a backdrop of Covid restrictions, an acceleration of the end of sale date for petrol and diesel cars to 2030 and Brexit uncertainty, the industry suffered a total turnover loss of some £20.4 billion. December’s vehicle registrations were reflective of what was a highly turbulent year, although the month showed signs of continued consumer interest in both used and electric vehicles.
New models and ongoing financial incentives helped initially to sustain UK demand in the month, but the introduction of a ‘firebreak’ lockdown in Wales on 23 October contributed to the nation recording 25.5% fewer registrations by the end of the month, which accounted for more than half of the overall UK decline.
Company car drivers remain uncertain over benefit-in-kind tax thresholds, but more importantly, the long term sustainable fiscal support available for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids
