The UK car market is showing positive figures for the first time this year. In July, sales increased 11.3 percent compared to the same month last year. This is evident from figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
174,887 new passenger cars were registered in the UK last month. That is 11.3 percent more than in the same month last year. It is the first time this year that sales figures in the country have not been recorded in deep red. For the time being, however, the British importers and dealer companies will not have to count on a positive operating result at the end of this year. Annual sales in the first seven months of this year, with 828,389 passenger cars sold, are no less than 41.9 percent behind those of last year in the same period. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) expects to see 30 percent fewer cars sold throughout 2020 than last year.
The new Vauxhall (Opel) Corsa was the best-selling passenger car in July. The B-segmenter left the showroom 5,455 times and is closely followed by the Ford Fiesta (5,421 units). The Fiesta’s big brother, the Ford Focus, finished in third place with 4,981 copies sold. Places four and five are filled in succession by the Volkswagen Golf (3,936 units) and the Mercedes-Benz A-class (3,992 units). In the first seven months of this year, not the Corsa, but the Ford Fiesta will be the absolute top seller. The Fiesta tops the 2020 sales list with 26,519 units to date, pushing the Corsa together with the Focus, which is in second place, to last place on the podium of honor.
Petrol-powered cars are still by far the most popular in the UK. Nearly sixty percent of passenger cars sold new this year have a petrol block under the hood. About eighteen percent of the total is equipped with a diesel engine. Electric cars are gaining popularity, now about 5 percent of the cars sold this year are EVs, while that percentage for 2019 was exactly 1 percent. 3.3 percent of the cars sold this year are plug-in hybrids, while more than 6 percent are plug-less hybrids. The SMMT also keeps statistics on cars with a mild hybrid powertrain. Almost 5 percent of the cars sold this year have a petrol engine with mild-hybrid technology on board, while just under 3.5 have a diesel engine with mild-hybrid technology in the nose.