Sales of new cars fall to lowest levels since 1945
INCREASED bureaucracy is set to drive up car makers’ costs despite Britain’s trade deal with the European Union, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders warns.
The industry body said the need for separate approvals from the UK and the EU for vehicles, as well as more paperwork such as documentation to prove from where vehicles’ parts are sourced will crank up costs.
Warning there could be a “high singlefigure percentage” increase in manufacturers’ costs, SMMT chief executive Mike Hawkes said: “You used to do it [ paperwork] for a minority of vehicles. Now you’re doing it on just about all your vehicles, apart from those going to the UK market.”
Yesterday, the SMMT said its preliminary figures indicate new car registrations last year suffered their biggest fall since the Second World War, tumbling nearly 30 per cent. Just over 1.6 million cars were sold in 2020, compared with 2.3 million the previous year.
The one bright spot was electric and hybrid vehicle sales, which together accounted for more than one in 10 of sales, up from around one in 30 in 2019.
As the majority of the growth in electric and hybrid vehicle sales were mostly for company fleets, the SMMT believes that the market for individual drivers has lots more room to grow.
Mr Hawkes urged the Government to provide more incentives to drivers to make the switch, as well improve charging infrastructure, to boost Britain’s car industry and help it bounce back from Brexit uncertainty and the pandemic. He said: “With manufacturers bringing record numbers of electrified vehicles to market over the coming months, we will work with government to encourage drivers to make the switch, while promoting investment in our globally-renowned manufacturing base.”
Elsewhere, Auto Trader said demand for cars was strong during the fourth quarter, with visits to its online marketplace up 20 per cent on last year.