UK and European automarkets on the road to recovery

Britain’s car industry showed signs of improvement throughout June, owing to the reopening of showrooms following the lockdown regulations in place to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Total registrations last month came to around 145,377, a 35% drop from the same period last year, according to a statement made by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). It added that registrations are down 49% for the last 12 months.

With lockdown being eased, it may allow showrooms for local car manufactures such as Jaguar and Nissan to start recovering their losses from the last few months.

Despite this, European car markets are soaring ahead, partly owing to government initiatives to allow drivers to trade in older vehicles for new ones. In France, car sales rose for the first time this year in June.

Both Germany and Spain announced aid packages for the sector, while the SMMT has called for state support, with the unfortunate fact that one-in-six jobs are at risk if the industry continues to flounder.

Because of a lack of these incentives, the British market is expected to be among the hardest hit in the Western world.

SMMT CEO Mike Hawes said: “While it’s welcome to see demand rise above the rock-bottom levels we saw during the lockdown, this is not a recovery and barely a restart.

“Many of June’s registrations could be attributed to customers finally being able to collect their pre-pandemic orders, and appetite for significant spending remains questionable.”

The SMMT added that the boost from pent-up demand has yet to materialise given that government furlough schemes are beginning to wind down alongside mass job cuts across all industries are depressing consumer sentiment.

This economic uncertainty means consumers are less likely to blow the large amounts of cash needed for investments such as cars.

The European car industry as a whole was ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic after governments ordered showrooms to shut for roughly two months and the general public remained under lockdown.

The SMMT forecast sales across the continent are due to drop by a record 25% this year – the steepest drop on record – and the lowest since 2013.

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