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:
- Types Of Electric Vehicles: A Short Guide
- Should I Buy An Electric Car In 2021?
- Top 20 Jargons Used In The Electric Vehicle Industry!
- UK Plug-In Electric Car Grant 2021
- What Is The Difference Between Conventional Hybrids and Plug-In Hybrids?
- Electric Car Home Charging OLEV EVHS Grant
- Best Electric Cars 2021
- Electric Cars Range: What Is WLTP?
Sign up to the e-zoomed Electric Living newsletter
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!
