RE: Copper $2.42 per lb8 May 2020 11:13
New car sales around the world are one of many industries severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and figures now in from the UK for April portray a bleaker picture than our report on Tuesday that Australia’s auto sales for April halved.
With car dealerships closed, a paralysing 97.3% reduction on car sales in the UK was reported on Tuesday (UK time) by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) for April, down from 161,064 units sold in April 2019 to just 4,321 in April 2020.
However, a key trend seen in Australia (albeit from a low base) is also reflected in the UK, is that electric vehicle sales are holding up, and the Tesla Model 3, which was introduced in early 2019 to the UK, unsurprisingly is taking the lead.
It is significant that Tesla’s sales modus operandi is online sales in contrast to the traditional car maker/dealership structure, along with touchless deliveries introduced by the EV maker to reduce the risk of spreading the novel Coronavirus causing the pandemic.
uk car sales models April 2020
Source: SMMT
While sales in all drivetrains were down for April, battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales were down just 9.7% compared to more than 94% for other drivetrains.
This brought the market share for BEVs up to 31.8%, a significant piece of the pie given in March, when sales were reported by the SMMT to be down 44.4% compared to the same period in 2019, BEVs held just 4.6% of the market.