Car sales the lowest for three decades
Covid and conductor shortages blamed for poor car sales
Europe’s new car retail sector suffered its lowest November registrations for three decades.
Volumes declined by 18%, mainly due to ongoing semiconductor shortages.
Jato Dynamics reported that across 25 European markets, last month’s total volume was 855,281 units. This is 18% lower than last year and 29% lower than November 2019.
Year-to-date, Europe’s growth in registrations is now just 0.4% compared to 2020.
No supplies
Felipe Munoz, global analyst at Jato Dynamics, says the “current problem does not relate to a lack of demand, but rather a lack of supply”.
Combined with various national lockdowns, “there is a clear backlog of consumers wishing to renew their cars”.
“This delay could have two main impacts: the first being that we see a large uptick in registrations next year if the shortage is solved; the second that consumers begin to adapt their buying patterns, moving toward keeping their vehicles for longer periods.”
Jato said that vehicle production issues had a “notable impact” on the overall best-selling vehicle rankings in November.
Clio on top
The top position was occupied by the Renault Clio. However, there is less than 200 units between the Renault and the fourth model in the ranking.
Registrations of the Volkswagen Golf and Toyota Yaris fell by 72% and 65%, respectively.
Car manufacturers are clearly prioritising the production of electric vehicles (EV). But they are also battling with issues surrounding the supply of semiconductors and other components.
EVs current success
Jato reported that registrations of low emissions cars totalled 217,709 units last month. This accounts for 26% of total registrations.
The market share reflected that reported in Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) data for the UK market.
The volume for low emission vehicles was 41% higher than achieved for diesel, it said.
Last week the government cut subsidies to incentivise buying electric vehicles. Despite this reduction of the plug-in car grant (PiCG), the appeal of EVs across Europe continues to grow.
Tesla Model 3 led Europe’s EV sales rankings last month. This is followed by the Renault Zoe and Dacia Spring, both heavily criticised recently for their performance in Euro NCAP safety tests.
In the PHEV market, the most-registered car was the Peugeot 3008, followed by the Volvo XC40 and Ford Kuga.
Other notable sales performances include the new Hyundai Tucson. Meanwhile, Tesla more than doubled its registrations of the Model 3.
Citroen’s new C4 became the Stellantis brand’s second best-selling model. Renault registered 5,600 units of the Arkana, and Tesla registered 5,400 units of the Model Y – the fifth best-selling BEV in November, ahead of the Volkswagen ID.4 with 4,800 units.
