Here’s the disaster: the collapse of the car market in one of the strongest countries in Europe



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The second wave of the epidemic and the austerity measures taken to curb it have put car manufacturers in the UK in an even more difficult position. In addition to the uncertainty caused by Brexit and the transition to new technologies, the sector will also have to cope with a drastic drop in demand. Looking at car sales in July, many turned bullish, but the August, September and October sales figures released by the British Association of Car Manufacturers and Dealers (SMMT) were sobering. The latest statistics released by SMMT in November also show that many have begun to have unfounded hopes of a turnaround. It turned out that

IN THE LAST MONTH, ONLY 113,781 PASSENGER CARS WERE REGISTERED, A DECREASE OF 27.4 PERCENT SINCE NOVEMBER 2019.

It is worth noting that the last example of an equally low sales volume in November was during the economic crisis of 2008, when 100,333 new cars were marketed in the UK. Taking into account the whole year so far this year, it can be said that a little more than 1.498 million cars were sold, which represented a decrease of almost 31 percent compared to the same period last year. Fleet sales (-22.1%) and retail sales (-32.2%) also fell dramatically compared to November 2019. Of course, the forced closure caused a significant loss for car manufacturers and dealers. : According to SMMT calculations, we can speak of a loss of revenue of approximately 1.3 billion (approximately 516 billion guilders) due to the fact that 42,840 fewer cars were sold than in November 2019.

Not surprisingly, however, we wrote last month that the UK car market crash in November could wrap up as British politicians voted for a four-week shutdown to curb the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic. It also meant that car dealerships in England were closed for weeks. However, there was no collapse like that of the spring, thanks to the fact that the sector was already ready for total closure and the delivery of ordered cars could be solved.

It’s no wonder, then, that SMMT lowered its forecast for this year even further a few weeks ago: As of mid-October, it was still estimated that 1.66 million cars could be sold in the UK in 2020,

HOWEVER, THERE ARE ONLY 1.56 MILLION CARS.

If this is indeed the case, it will mean that around 750,000 fewer new cars will be registered in the island nation this year than the year before. The last example of such a weak year was 1982.

The sale of electric cars turns sharply

SMMT’s report revealed that while sales of vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines fell dramatically this year, sales of partially or fully electric models have soared. In addition to the subsidies available, the fact that there are now many different electric models available on the UK car market also plays a role in this.

SALES OF BATTERY ELECTRIC CARS INCREASED MORE THAN 122 PERCENT IN NOVEMBER 2019, SINCE THE SAME PERIOD PLUG-IN HYBRID MODELS HAVE BEEN CLOSE TO 77 PERCENT

By comparison, sales of diesel cars fell more than 56 percent, while those of gasoline-powered passenger cars fell nearly 42 percent last month compared to November 2019. It’s also worth noting that last month More plug-in cars (18,062) were already sold in the UK than the number of diesel-powered vehicles (15,925).

Statistics released by the British Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Dealers also showed that last month the Vauxhall Corsa was the most popular model (3,718) in terms of sales figures in the island nation. Next in line were Volkswagen Golf (3,625), Mercedes-Benz A-Class (3,243), Nissan Qashqai (3,073) and Ford Focus (2,922).

Cover Image Source: Andrew Matthews / PA Images via Getty Images



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