UK Car Sales See Toughest Year Since 1992: SMMT
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - The UK new car market declined by almost a third in 2020 with demand falling the most since 1992, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, or SMMT, reported Wednesday.
New car registrations declined 29.4 percent to 1.63 million in 2020. This was the toughest year for the market since 1992, the lobby said.
According to SMMT, there was a 680,076-unit decline equivalent to GBP 20.4 billion in lost turnover in 2020.
In December, car sales fell 10.9 percent year-on-year to 132,682.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said, 2020 will be seen as a lost year for Automotive, with the sector under pandemic-enforced shutdown for much of the year and uncertainty over future trading conditions taking their toll.
As factories and showrooms were forced to close because of the virus, sales to UK customers last year plummeted by the greatest percentage since the Second World War.
Wednesday 6 January 2021 - 1:22pm
File: New vehicle sales dropped by 13-percent in February after falling by a similar margin in January compared to a year before.
LONDON - British new car sales crashed to the lowest level for almost three decades in 2020, with demand ravaged by chronic coronavirus fallout and Brexit uncertainty, industry data showed.
Sales tanked by 29.4 percent compared with 2019 to 1.63 million new vehicles, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed in a statement.
That was the lowest level since 1992.
The sector suffered a revenue loss of £20.4-billion meanwhile. 2020 will be seen as a lost year for automotive, with the sector under pandemic-enforced shutdown for much of the year and uncertainty over future (EU) trading conditions taking their toll, SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes was quoted as saying.