Commenting on the latest vehicle registration figures, Jamie Hamilton, automotive partner and head of electric vehicles at Deloitte, explained that while demand for electric vehicles continues, the benefits of transitioning are reducing.
The UK new car market grew 23.5 per cent in November to 142,889 registered units in the fourth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The growth delivered the best total for November since 2019, with manufacturers continuing efforts to fulfil orders amid erratic global components supply. However, registrations in the month were still -8.8 per cent below 2019 levels and, while further recovery is anticipated in 2023, global and domestic economic challenges mean that the market will remain below pre-pandemic levels.
The UK’s new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market fell by -22.2 per cent in November, with 24,352 of the latest vans joining Britain’s roads, according to the latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). While the scale of the decline is artificially inflated in comparison with last year, which saw the best November performance in history, the total is the lowest recorded for the month since 2013, and is some -13.9 per cent below the pre-pandemic five-year average.
New car registrations fell in October for the fourth consecutive month, with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reporting a 24.6 per cent decline to 106,265 units compared with October last year. The market’s monthly performance was the weakest seen since October 1991; demand from large fleets fell by 40.4 per cent, driving most of the decline. Private demand declined by just 3.3 per cent, but SMMT points out that consumer uptake during the pandemic-affected October 2020 was weak as well.
New plug-in vehicle uptake rates have accelerated so rapidly that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) forecasts more of these joining Britain’s roads in 2021 than during the whole of the last decade. It expects that around 287,000 zero-emission cars will be added to the UK car parc this year, a figure equalling around one-sixth of all new cars. A total of just 271,962 new battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (BEVs & PHEVs) were registered between 2010 and 2019. Furthermore, current forecasts suggest that BEV registrations will exceed those of diesel by the end of 2022.
Registrations of new cars in June grew 28.0 per cent year-on-year to 186,128, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)’s latest figures. The monthly performance was again artificially lifted through comparison with June 2020, when the UK began to emerge from the first pandemic lockdown and showrooms in England opened up at the beginning of the month.
New commercial vehicle registrations continue to develop positively throughout Europe. According to ACEA, registrations were up 209 per cent in the European Union and up 256 per cent across Europe as a whole. While not those dizzying heights, year-to-date figures remain strong (up 45.9 per cent in the EU and up 51.1 per cent across Europe), reflecting the recovery of demand.
In May, analysts reported that Q2 European trailer registrations were 44 per cent down and that full-year 2020 trailer registrations were set to be down north of 28 per cent. Now however, the same analysts – Clear International – are echoing the findings of other indicators and suggesting that things will turn out slightly better than expected this year.
The significant increase in LCV registrations in September was welcomed by the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised commercial vehicle dealers in the UK, whose Chief Executive Sue Robinson said: “It is encouraging to see the van market experience an uplift in registrations of over a quarter indicating that a degree of confidence has returned to the sector”.
The UK new car market declined -4.4 per cent in September, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The sector recorded 328,041 new registrations in the month – the weakest September since the introduction of the dual number plate system in 1999 and some -15.8 per cent lower than the 10-year average of around 390,000 units for the month.
The UK new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market grew by more than a quarter (+26.4 per cent) in September, according to the latest SMMT figures. In total, 52,096 vans, pickups and 4x4s were registered in the month, up some 10,880 units on a weak September 2019, when regulatory changes distorted the market.
Overall registrations remain under great pressure, but the latest new car sales figures point to another bumper month for electric vehicles. Meanwhile, diesel-fuelled internal combustion engine vehicles have taken the biggest hit. There are also signs that vehicle ownership preferences are changing. But what does this mean for the shape of the car market that feeds aftermarket tyre sales?
The UK’s new heavy goods vehicle (HGV) market declined by 73.4 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reports that 4,151 units were registered between 1 March and 30 June 2020. Just 328 buses and coaches joined UK roads during the quarter.
UK motorists are some of the fastest adopters of online car buying, something that is rapidly becoming the new normal in Britain, Germany and Spain, according to research conducted by online car retailer carwow. A survey of over 1000 consumers who bought a car through carwow since dealerships were allowed to reopen found 54 per cent of recent the company’s customers in the UK said they would continue to do the bulk of their car buying online from now on. In Spain it was 45 per cent and it was 38 per cent in Germany.
Following the news that UK new car registrations were up 11.3 per cent year-on-year in July, Michael Woodward, UK automotive lead, Deloitte, cautiously suggested the figures point towards a speedy recovery:
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