Coronavirus: UK car sales suffer worst May performance since 1952 June 4, 2020 UK new car sales crashed 89 per cent last month as car dealerships remained shuttered, marking the industry’s worst May performance since 1952. Only 20,247 new cars were sold over the month — a decline of 163,477 compared to the same month last year, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and [...]
SMMT: UK car sales plunge to six-year low despite electric growth January 6, 2020 British car sales slumped to a six-year low in 2019, as widespread economic uncertainty put the brakes on an industry whose only glimmer of hope came in the form of record electric vehicle sales. New car registrations fell two per cent to 2.31m last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), [...]
Britain’s car industry could weather a storm of tariffs better than you’d think September 18, 2019 The latest American Economic Review contains a timely paper. Keith Head and Thierry Mayer, at the University of British Columbia and the Banque de France respectively, estimate the consequences of changes in tariff and non-tariff barriers to the car industry. They look at both US-led protectionism and Brexit, and calculate how these might change the [...]
Pendragon called on restructuring firms to mitigate effects of industry car crash September 8, 2019 As the car industry continues to splutter, one of Britain’s biggest dealers has turned to restructuring experts to try to halt its downward spiral of profits. Pendragon, which owns the ubiquitous Evans Halshaw car dealership brand, spoke to several firms about helping shake up its spending earlier this year, but the process was cut short [...]
Lookers profits splutter as dealership tries to contain sales practice issues August 14, 2019 Problems continue to mount for British car dealership Lookers, as the London-listed firm today said it expects costs to rise as it tries to address problems found with its sales practices. The small cap firm this morning posted a sharp drop in profit for the first half of the year, after car sales were affected [...]
Luxury car imports jump as super-rich look to swerve Brexit costs August 12, 2019 The number of luxury car imports has risen sharply over the last year, as wealthy individuals rush to bring high-end motors to the UK ahead of a potential no-deal Brexit. A total of 3,830 cars were imported in the last financial year, up 16 per cent on the previous 12 months, according to law firm [...]
Car sales stagnate again in July but electric vehicle market share surges August 5, 2019 New car sales were hampered last month by confusion over Brexit uncertainty and the government’s future policies over plug-in hybrid electric cars. The British new car market shrunk 4.1 per cent in July, its fifth straight month of decline, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Read more: Car industry investment grinds [...]
CBI: UK manufacturing growth nears three-year low June 19, 2019 A steep fall in car production saw UK manufacturing growth fall to its weakest level in nearly three years in the three months to June, new data has revealed. Car manufacturers’ 83 per cent plunge was its worst quarterly drop since the height of the financial crisis over the quarter, the Confederation of British Industry [...]
Auto Trader bullish on growth prospects June 10, 2019 | City Talk Amid fears of a slowdown in UK car sales, our head of markets talks us through the big numbers. This sparkling set of annual results from Auto Trader (LSE:AUTO) is tainted only by a more guarded outlook from the company, implying that a repetition of the numbers is unlikely. The majority of the metrics reflect Auto Trader’s [...]
New car market misfires as confusion over government policy and incentives dents demand June 5, 2019 Rule changes to government policy and automotive grants caused hybrid and diesel car sales to plummet in May. Overall new car sales fell 4.6 per cent year-on-year to just 183,724 units. The figures come from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Read more: Car sales fall as removal of subsidies takes its toll [...]