UK car sales mirroring Irish trends — slowly rising but still well down on pre-Covid levels

In England, car dealers reopened their doors to the public on April 12.

New car registrations in the UK rose by 674% in May compared with the same month last year when showrooms were closed during lockdowns but sales remained below 2019 levels, industry data shows.

UK dealers reopened their doors to the public on April 12 in England this year but were shut throughout May 2020.

Volumes stood at 156,737, boosted by business fleet demand, far higher than the 20,247 cars sold in May 2020 but still short of the 183,724 purchases made in 2019, according to data from the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Trend in Ireland

The UK figures mirror the trend being seen in Ireland. 

Last week, figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry showed 5,955 new car registrations for May. That was up from 1,741 for the same month last year. 

However, when more accurately measured against pre-Covid May 2019 levels, the total was down from 6,320 cars.

New car sales in Ireland are currently down 23% on 2019 levels.

Meanwhile, Nissan has said it is pushing back the release of its flagship Ariya electric vehicle, highlighting the struggle carmakers everywhere are facing in trying to launch new cars amid a persisting shortage of semiconductors.

• Reuters, Bloomberg, and Irish Examiner