July’s new car registrations fell by -29.5% year-on-year, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and are down -22.3% on the past decade’s July average.
The SMMT reports that ongoing semiconductor shortage and the ‘pingdemic’ are having an adverse impact on both supply and demand, making this July the weakest July for new car registrations since 1998, prior to the introduction of the two-plate system.
Despite the overall market decline, the growth in plug-in vehicles has continued, with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounting for 9.0% of registrations, while plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) reached 8.0%.
The light commercial vehicle (LCV) market saw its first decline since December 2020 as July registrations fell -14.8%. Supply issues – most notably of semiconductors – has meant only 23,606 vans were registered during the month. Despite this challenge, the month’s performance was only a moderate -4.0% decline compared to the pre-pandemic five-year average.
Demand for larger vans weighing more than 2.5-3.5 tonnes, which comprise the majority (70.5%) of all commercial registrations in the month, saw a decrease of -5.2% to 16,653 vehicles. Other van segments saw more significant declines in demand compared to 2020, with registrations of vans weighing less than or equal to 2.0 tonnes down -38.2% and those of vans weighing more than 2.0-2.5 tonnes down -41.4% to 907 and 2,680 vehicles, respectively.
