2020 Continues To Remain An Unprecedented And Challenging Trading Year For The UK Automotive Sector. The Commencement Of The Second Lockdown As A Result Of The Pandemic, Will Further Exacerbate The Already Impossible Predicament!
Electric Cars: The Basics
For those of you new to zero-emission electric driving, we recommend a read of the following articles:
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Before moving onto the latest results i.e. the October 2020 new car registrations update, let us briefly remind ourselves of the September 2020 registrations update.
September 2020 witnessed a continued increase in the registration of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), despite a continued slowdown in the sales of petrol and diesel internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. Petrol new car registrations were down by 20.9% in September 2020, compared to September 2019. Diesel performed worse, with a 38.4% decline. Diesel market share decreased from 22.2% in September 2019 to 14.3% in September 2020. Petrol market share declined from 65.0% to 53.8% in the same period.
BEV market share increased from 2.2% in September 2019 to 6.7% in September 2020. PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) also witnessed a similar increase from 1.5% in September 2019 to 3.8% in September 2020.
The October 2020 new car registrations update from The Society of Motor traders and Manufacturers (SMMT), is a continuation of the trend so far witnessed in 2020 i.e. diesel cars further declining in market share between October 2019 to October 2020 from 23.7% to 14.9%.
The same is the trend with petrol cars, witnessing a decline from 61.9% to 49.5% between October 2019 to October 2020. In terms of registrations, diesel registrations have declined by 38.4% in October 2020 compared to October 2019, with petrol registrations decreasing 21.3% in October 2020.
Overall the market was down 1.6% with 140,945 new car registrations. With the second lock-down and the ongoing pandemic, the UK automotive sector will continue to face significant challenges in the near and medium term.
BEV market share increased from 2.2% in October 2019 to 6.6% in October 2020. PHEVs also witnessed a similar increase from 2.2% in October 2019 to 5.5% in October 2020. 75,946 BEVs have been registered to date this year, an increase of 168.7% from last year.
Year-to-date the overall sector continues to face a challenging trading environment, with new car registrations down 31.0%.
The lack of BEVs and PHEVs on the SMMT October 2020 Best Sellers list, is a firm reminder that the despite all the progress, the adoption of electric vehicles is still requires much work!