UK’s Car Sales Improve Despite Lockdowns Keeping Showrooms Shut in March
With the UK set to ease its lockdown in a few days’ time, things surely seem to be looking up for the economy. Latest data from the SMMT reveals an uptick in the demand for new cars during the month of March, with new car sales rising by 11% YoY over the past month.
Even though the total sales were still around 37% lower than the average sales seen between 2010 and 2019, the increase was remarkable considering car showrooms were shut over the past month on account of the lockdowns. Overall turnover of the automobile industry was also £1.8 billion lower YoY during Q1 2021.
March is typically a busy month for auto sales due to the release of new number plates in the nation. In March 2021, the total number of new registrations touched 283k. However, a return to pre-pandemic levels would require new registrations to touch around 8,300 per day by the end of 2021.
The automotive industry faces considerable challenges, notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic, as governments around the world look at ways to tackle climate change as it would require a shift from petrol and diesel powered vehicles and towards electric and green technology powered vehicles. The UK government’s plans to ban petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030 could drive a sharp decline in new car sales, from around 2.3 million during 2025 to a mere 800k by 2030.
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