New car registrations in Britain fell 24 percent in June from a year earlier, the worst month since 1996 as the sector struggled with a continuing supply shortage of components due to China’s extreme Covid restrictions. the latest industry data shown.
The crisis, said political commentator and Brexit Robert Kimbell, is going to affect the trade relationship between the UK and Germany.
Commenting on the figures released by the Association of Motor Manufacturers and Dealers (SMMT) on Tuesday, Mr Kimbell wrote on Twitter: “German car exporters will be absolutely devastated.”
In Britain, new car registrations dropped to 140,958 units last month, according to the SMMT’s findings.
The automotive sector has been hit hardest by global supply chain issues.
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Nationally, it has already suffered from a severe shortage of semiconductors, with SMMT CEO Mike Hawes saying: “The semiconductor shortage is suffocating the new car market even more than last year’s constraint.”
And then the cost-of-living crisis forced households to limit their spending to necessities and stay away from big-ticket items.
In May, the SMMT reduced its 2022 outlook for new cars registered to 1.72 million from the 1.89 million previously forecast.
A lack of new car registrations is synonymous with a lack of need for imports.
For Berlin, Mr Kimbell suggested, it was bad news.
The value of British goods – machine tools, car parts and components for the aviation industry – arriving in Germany also fell to € 32.1 billion in this case.
However, Berlin’s overall exports rose 14 percent during the year, even as the pandemic continued to disrupt global supply chains.
In the UK, the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEVs) sector continued its growth range, with a 14.6 per cent increase in volume.
However, the acquisition of in-proprietary vehicles (PHEV) fell by 4,425 units – a slowdown that the SMMT mentioned more than expected, leaving the market behind the operating outlook.
The industry body said: “Part of this decline is due to the persistent supply chain shortages hampering the production of all models, but the scrapping of the plug-in motor allowance means the UK is now the only major European market with no incentives for private EV buyers. . “
Plug-ins represent a record of one in five new car registrations year-to-date, reflecting manufacturers’ commitments to the latest vehicles that can deliver no emissions, according to the trade association.