Electric bright spark amid new cars gloom
SALES of new cars stayed in the slow lane last month as demand for diesels plunged, while electric and hybrid cars grabbed a record market share.
A reluctance by consumers to splash out amid political and economic uncertainty drove down November registrations by 1.3 per cent to 156,621.
So far this year 2.2 million cars have been registered, down 2.7 per cent from 2018, says the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Last year’s decline of nearly 7 per cent was the fastest since the financial crisis over a decade ago.
The SMMT cited “weak business and consumer confidence, economic uncertainty and confusion over diesel and clean air zones”.
Demand from private buyers fell 6.1 per cent and the business market was down 3.2 per cent, while fleet registrations rose 2.8 per cent. Alternatively fuelled vehicle registrations reached a 10.2 per cent market share, but diesel registrations reversed by 27.2 per cent.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “These are challenging times for the UK new car market, reflecting the current climate of uncertainty.” He said there was “a long way to go” for electric vehicles to become mainstream.
Analysts said new testing procedures brought forward purchases, harming sales.
EY ITEM Club chief economic adviser Howard Archer added that consumers are “cautious in making the major bigticket purchase of a car amid major uncertainties despite improved purchasing power and elevated employment”.