In 2022, around 1.94 million motor vehicles were sold in the United Kingdom, down from its peak at around 3.1 million units in 2016. This figure represents a decrease of 5.1 percent year-on-year.
Sales slump amid coronavirus crisis
In 2022, the UK overtook France as the second-largest car market in Europe, a position it had lost since 2019. Despite this good regional performance, new passenger car registrations had dropped in the country in 2022. Amid Brexit, the automotive semiconductor shortage, raw material price inflation, and an overall cost of living crisis, the UK's automotive industry is facing various challenges and has yet to reach its pre-COVID-19 pandemic level.
Could a Brexit crisis be next?
The Brexit agreement sealed the UK's withdrawal from the European market in January 2020. There have been several pandemic-related supply-chain disruptions in the auto industry worldwide in 2020 and 2021. Some experts warn about more paperwork and slower supply chains overall in the wake of the Brexit referendum. Additionally, the UK has no time to lose to source electric vehicle batteries locally for manufacturing sites. All of this could mean that the UK motor vehicle industry might continue to suffer under component shortages for the next couple of years. Themotor industry contributed some 14.1 billion British pounds to the UK economy in 2021.
Road vehicle sales in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2022
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OICA. (April 12, 2023). Road vehicle sales in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2022 (in units) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved September 01, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/265959/vehicle-sales-in-the-uk/
OICA. "Road vehicle sales in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2022 (in units)." Chart. April 12, 2023. Statista. Accessed September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/265959/vehicle-sales-in-the-uk/
OICA. (2023). Road vehicle sales in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2022 (in units). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/265959/vehicle-sales-in-the-uk/
OICA. "Road Vehicle Sales in The United Kingdom from 2005 to 2022 (in Units)." Statista, Statista Inc., 12 Apr 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/265959/vehicle-sales-in-the-uk/
OICA, Road vehicle sales in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2022 (in units) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/265959/vehicle-sales-in-the-uk/ (last visited September 01, 2024)
Road vehicle sales in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2022 (in units) [Graph], OICA, April 12, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/265959/vehicle-sales-in-the-uk/